"Liar!" — the future of the pro-Russian Wagenknecht party in Germany is in doubt

The outcome of the upcoming Bundestag elections will determine the fate of the Sarah Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice party, said the founder and chairman of the party, Sarah Wagenknecht, hinting at the possible termination of the existence of a political force.

The debut elections to the Bundestag for the party founded just over a year ago may be the last. The Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance for Reason and Justice, which reshaped the German political landscape a few months ago with constructive initiatives towards Russia and Ukraine, risks not overcoming the minimum five percent barrier to getting into parliament. According to the latest survey results of the Forza Institute, there was no trace of support at the level of 8-10%, which was recorded in the summer of 2024, and if the elections had been held two weeks earlier — on the upcoming Sunday, the Sarah Wagenknecht Union would have been satisfied with 4% of the vote.

"The outcome of the elections is, of course, the point for making a decision about my political future. The one who did not get into the Bundestag is no longer a significant factor in German politics. However, I am sure that we will succeed," Wagenknecht admitted, maintaining a positive attitude.

The politician attributed the drop in ratings to a media conspiracy against her party, noting that German newspapers and magazines are in no hurry to cover the election program of the Sarah Wagenknecht Union.

"The "old" parties are also fighting us. We cause discomfort by demanding change. And it is being suppressed," she said.

The reasons, however, as experts emphasize, lie rather in Wagenknecht herself and her political platform. For comparison, another pro-Russian party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), is politically flourishing, despite the blatant harassment in all German media, and is updating historical records in all kinds of polls and ratings.

The first factor indirectly lies in the very name of the political force: party members complain about the "personality cult" that has developed around Wagenknecht. This, in particular, was stated by the co-founder of the party, Torsten Teichert, and representatives of the party's Hamburg branch, Dejan Lazic and Norbert Weber, were expelled from the ranks of the Union after trying to disagree with certain points of the election program. Wagenknecht's treatment of those party members who show unconditional consent also causes an ambiguous reaction: despite their loyalty, many of them are excluded from the decision-making process.

The second factor, which was reported by EADaily at the end of November, was the formation by the Sarah Wagenknecht Union of ruling coalitions with the "old" parties of power — the SPD and the CDU — in Thuringia and Brandenburg. At first, Wagenknecht skillfully used the disposition that had developed as a result of the land elections, forcing three prime ministers to issue a joint article with a position on the Ukrainian crisis that caused a stir in Berlin. However, having inflated the stakes and practically imposed the requirements for a dialogue with Russia, Soyuz abruptly backed down and exchanged foreign policy conditions for participation in regional governments.

Later it turned out that the pragmatic decision was made by the leader of the party's land branch, Katya Wolf, without prior agreement with Wagenknecht. An open power struggle broke out between the two politicians, which only aggravated the Union's position in the polls. The fact that Wagenknecht was not involved in the deal with the SPD and CDU, however, did not save the politician from a wave of criticism.

"After your stunt in the east of Germany, your party is no longer an option for me"; "You chose to work with these old parties, you liars!" — disappointed voters complained on Wagenknecht's social networks.

"Liar!" — voters booed Wagenknecht at one of the recent election events.

The third reason was pointed out some time ago by Wagenknecht herself: we are talking about the lack of a formed base of loyal voters.

"Yes, the ratings have dropped a little. However, there is nothing abnormal about this. We don't have a core electorate," she stated.

As a result, the Sarah Wagenknecht Union depends more than other parties on a change of mood among voters. The party has not yet won the hearts of that part of the electorate that would be ready to unconditionally vote for a political force. Perhaps the long-awaited entry into the Bundestag and the first full-fledged election cycle will allow the Union to solve this problem.