Executive Committee Meeting, January 13, 2018

On the second weekend of the new year the Party Executive Committee met with the Land party chairs and parliamentary group leaders from European, federal and Land level to debate about the tasks for the upcoming year. The Party Chairs outlined the most important projects which were subsequently discussed:

• The preparation and conduction of several election campaigns: on 6^th May local elections in Schleswig Holstein are due. The Land party chair Gösta Beutin asked for support in this matter. The Bavarian Land party chair Ates Gürpinar informed about Land parliamentary elections in Bavaria which are supposed to take place on 14^th October. The party will run lists in all seven administrative districts, in April the Land party congress will decide on the election manifesto. Vice-chair and Hessian parliamentary group leader, Janine Wissler, will stand for elections as mayor of Frankfurt Main on 25^th February. In autumn the Hessian Land organisation will fight for reentering the Hessian parliament, the date is not yet fixed. The leader of the European Parliament group GUE/NGL, Gabi Zimmer, informed that European elections will presumably take place from 23^rd to 26^th May. DIE LINKE will start the debate on the European election manifesto in autumn.
• The development of the strategic lineup in the new constellation of government and opposition: the relation of class and milieu shall be broadly debated in the party supported by external expertise. The PEC resolved to host six regional conferences on that matter between March and April. We want to enhance the party’s standing in the health sector, making it a focus of our campaign work, as well as the issues of rents and housing. The fight against the right, anti-racist politics and analysing the right wing populist party AfD remain important political themes as well as disarmament and the prohibition of arms exports. The results of the exploratory negotiations between Conservatives and Social Democrats are considered as insufficient. The debate was based on a paper of LINKE Land and parliamentary chairs from the East German Lands stating “reasonable course settings in the captions, yet only symbolic implementation in the budget charts”. Dealing with the expected grand coalition will definitely become the centre of the political work.
• The further strengthening of the party and gaining new members which was based on an evaluation of the membership development: It is encouraging that the more than 8500 new members are mostly young, in training or work, and especially interested in core issues of the party, social and labour market policy, environment and economy. Their membership contribution is on average higher than 10 euro. Now it is vital to further integrate them in the party and to reactivate “old” members. We plan to extend the educational and hands on activities for new members. The activities on organising, exchange and strategy building for members aged under 35 will be continued. Canvassing will also be continued, as well as the model projects in deprived areas. On 14^th and 15 April a conference for activists and communal party chairs will take place.
• Enhancing our profile: Another “Left Week of the Future” will take place from 13^th to 16^th September. We want to combine the debate about contents with a perspective on grass roots politics. As guidelines will serve the models of a left party 2.0 and socialism 2.0: What is left – in contect of a new government?; up-to-date left class politics; digitalisation or the transformation of industrial society and economical democracy; social-ecological transformation; left grass roots politics and on European level.

Regarding the current labour fights in the metal and electrical industry DIE LINKE stands at the side of the employers who currently fight for a six percent increase of wages and the right to reducing working hours. We wish the trade union IG Metall success in implementing its demands.

The advance of parliamentary group leader Sahra Wagenknecht to form a left coalition movement was not met with approval. Most speakers argued in favour of a strengthening of DIE LINKE and an extension of the close cooperation with the movements.

In solidarity,

Harald Wolf