The leadership of the BSW in Saxony-Anhalt is demanding that Katja Wolf, the BSW state leader in Thuringia, step down and hand back her mandate in the state parliament.
According to regional leader John Lucas Dittrich and top candidates Claudia Wittig and Thomas Schulze, Wolf should accept the consequences if she cannot align herself with the BSW’s basic political principles. They stated in a interview with “Die Welt” that she should resign, freeing up her position for someone who genuinely represents the party’s platform. Furthermore, they warned that if she continues her public activities against the BSW, they would ask the federal executive board to initiate disciplinary measures against her, as allowed by the party statutes. The leadership argues that a state parliament member cannot continuously work against their own party while simultaneously holding onto that mandate.
Wolf currently serves as Vice Minister-President in Thuringia within a “raspberry” coalition alongside the CDU and SPD. She was previously pressured by party founder Sahra Wagenknecht, along with the federal and Saxony-Anhalt BSW boards, to break this coalition. This pressure intensified after accusations of plagiarism were leveled against Minister-President Mario Voigt (CDU), a figure Wolf and the Thuringian BSW parliamentary group initially defended during a confidence vote by the AfD in the state parliament.
In their view, Wolf’s political trajectory lacks support, both within the BSW and externally. Wittig, Dittrich, and Schulze assert that Wolf is operating based on a specific calculation: attempting to prevent the BSW’s entry into the Saxony-Anhalt parliament while simultaneously trying to keep a government in power in Thuringia with a small group of party and ministerial staff-a government that most Thuringians no longer desire. The BSW leadership in Saxony-Anhalt stressed that this clearly demonstrates where she stands politically. They further claimed that Wolf would not hold a seat in the Thuringian parliament or government without Sahra Wagenknecht, and that using a mandate to pursue a political course antagonistic to the BSW’s principles and goals is unacceptable.
In a separate matter, the state leaderships of 15 BSW regional chapters-all except Thuringia-issued a letter to Wolf and her co-state leader Gernot Süßmuth, urging the postponement of the planned special party day in Erfurt on September 6. This day is scheduled for a members’ assembly to discuss the future of the “raspberry” coalition, the same day that the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt will hold new elections.
These regional chapters criticized the timing, stating that they took the appointment “with irritation.” They argued that holding such an event parallel to a critical election would guarantee that the BSW receives negative headlines due to internal disputes on election day. They strongly called for a different date to prevent damage to the party’s reputation. The letter was signed by Schulze and Dittrich, alongside other leaders, including Jessica Tatti (Baden-Württemberg), Friederike Benda (Brandenburg), Amid Rabieh (NRW), and Klaus Ernst (Bavaria).
When approached for comment, Wolf remained reserved, stating that the issue would be discussed within the relevant party bodies.
