Dietmar Bartsch, a politician from The Left party, expressed a strong lack of understanding for the “firewall debate” being waged by the Union in opposition to The Left. Speaking to the news program “Welt” on Friday, Bartsch stated, “Frankly, I think what the Union is saying is utter nonsense.”
Bartsch pointed to the situation in Thuringia as an example, noting that the state’s Prime Minister, Mario Voigt (CDU), would not have been elected without the votes of Bodo Ramelow and others. He also observed that in Saxony, The Left is “of course” involved in the budget planning process. He dismissed the idea that The Left is somehow excluded as “ridiculous.”
Bartsch argued that the Union was treating the firewall against The Left “like a religious relic.” He emphasized that The Left is a fully democratic party, asserting that the problem lies with the Union, not with his party.
Bartsch later insisted that the Union needed to focus its attention on preventing the country from continuing to decline. He called upon them instead to pursue a much-needed tax reform and a proper pension reform. “They are simply not doing that,” Bartsch concluded sharply.
