Wagenknecht, a self-described “left conservative,” platforms on left-wing financial coverage and a restrictive strategy to migration.
German leftist politician Sahra Wagenknecht was sprayed with a crimson liquid-like paint throughout a marketing campaign occasion on Thursday within the jap metropolis of Erfurt, forward of carefully watched state elections on Sunday.
Wagenknecht, founding father of the eponymous Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), was solely frivolously splattered by the liquid however briefly left the stage, in keeping with German information company dpa.
A person was instantly pushed to the bottom by safety forces, handcuffed and brought away. Wagenknecht returned to the stage and later wrote on the social media platform X that she was scared however high quality.
Whereas nobody was injured in Erfurt, the incident comes as political violence in Germany is on the rise. In Could, a distinguished Berlin politician was violently assaulted and suffered accidents to her head and neck.
Earlier than that, a candidate from the centre-left celebration of Chancellor Olaf Scholz SPD was crushed up within the jap metropolis of Dresden whereas campaigning and needed to bear surgical procedure.
Each authorities and opposition events say their members and supporters have confronted a wave of bodily and verbal assaults in current months and have known as on police to step up safety for politicians and election rallies.
Wagenknecht was campaigning in Thuringia, one in every of two jap states together with Saxony which can be holding elections on Sunday, which may see the far-right Different for Germany (AFD) grow to be the strongest celebration for the primary time.
However Wagenknecht, who formally launched her celebration in January, additionally hopes to shake up the image because the nationwide authorities has squabbled its method to deep unpopularity.
Excessive scores for AfD and BSW, each at their strongest within the previously communist east, have been fed partially by discontent with the nationwide authorities.
The events in Scholz’s governing alliance squabbled publicly all through the marketing campaign for the European elections in June and obtained dismal outcomes. The inner hostilities have intensified over a summer season suffering from disagreements in regards to the 2025 price range.
Wagenknecht, a self-described “left conservative” platforms on a mixture of left-wing financial coverage, with excessive wages and beneficiant advantages, and a restrictive strategy to migration.
She additionally questions some environmentalists’ plans to fight local weather change and opposes present sanctions in opposition to Russia, which was as soon as Germany’s main gasoline provider, and Berlin’s arms provides to Ukraine.
She has declared that her celebration will solely be a part of state governments with a “clear place for diplomacy and in opposition to the preparation of struggle”.
