The chairs of The Left, Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken, announced to the “Rheinische Post” (Thursday edition) that they intend to run again for the party’s leadership at the federal party congress in June.
“ We want to continue as a team because we’ve seen success and I genuinely enjoy this job with Ines” van Aken said.
“ Jan and I want to keep going because we’ve shown what the Left is capable of” added Schwerdtner.
Van Aken noted that the coming months will involve a lot of work but also hold hope for the party. “We expect to take seats in two West‑German state parliaments where no leftist has represented them before. Additionally we aim to finish first in Berlin with Elif Eralp and will do everything in East Germany to keep the AfD from getting a foothold in the levers of power”.
Schwerdtner stressed that Left‑party politics must feel tangible in everyday life and work effectively in parliament. “Our task is to build a party that concretely helps people and organizes hope”.
The board election will take place at the party’s federal congress in Potsdam in June. Schwerdtner and van Aken were elected as chairs in October 2024, after which the party added more than 76,600 new members, bringing total membership to over 123,000.
