The Left Party is sharply criticizing the plans put forward by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to significantly complicate the process of compulsory municipalization through new legislation.
Linken leader Luigi Pantisano commented on Sunday that the federal government is afraid of a strong Left Party that successfully champions the interests of ordinary citizens in Berlin. He pointed out that Berlin residents have voted for the municipalization of large housing stocks twice: once in a referendum, and again when they elected the Left Party as the strongest political force following a campaign focused on rent control.
Pantisano argues that Dobrindt and the Merz government’s approach demonstrates a preference for shareholder interests, such as those of Vonovia, over the tenants in Berlin. He asserts that such a law would ultimately fail to withstand scrutiny in the Federal Constitutional Court. Regardless, Pantisano reiterated that the Left Party will continue to advocate for the needs of the people and the affordability of living.
“These landlord profiteers cannot be allowed to endlessly squeeze their tenants,” the party chief stated, challenging the Federal SPD to declare where its allegiance lies: with the exploiters or with the tenants themselves.
Adding a legal perspective, constitutional scholar Ulrich Battis also noted potential legal risks in Dobrindt’s proposed measures. He specifically found the plan to limit compensation payouts to market value to be problematic. Battis told the newspaper “Funke” that while there is constitutional leeway regarding the amount of compensation, restricting that freedom with such a specific provision is risky.
He found the remaining elements of the planned law implementable, including the provision that compensation must be paid in cash and the requirement to explicitly demonstrate the necessity for municipalization. However, he stressed that the most crucial question remains whether municipalization is legally possible at all. In his assessment, a federal regulation would restrict the options available to the individual states (Länder).
