Berlin Left Party: group leadership weighs how to deal with MP Emde
The Neukölln MP denies that states have a right to exist. The group leadership meets online today – expulsion is possible but would require a two-thirds majority.
Symbolic image · Photo: Gunnar Klack / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The executive of the Left Party group in Berlin's state parliament is holding a digital meeting on Tuesday on how to deal with Neukölln MP Vanessa Emde. Emde has been invited, and expulsion from the group is possible. Under the group's current rules, that would require a two-thirds majority of members. On Friday the executive had already stated: "The group executive agrees that Ms Emde cannot speak publicly for the group in this situation."
Emde, who won the direct seat in northern Neukölln on a platform emphasising solidarity with Palestinians, holds that states have no right to exist, only people. In a social media video she said: "I stand by my statements and I am not retracting a single one of them." According to the Tagesspiegel, she described her admission to the group as a gain of ground against the Staatsräson, Germany's doctrine on Israel's security. Previously, all group members, including her, had signed a declaration against antisemitism affirming Israel's right to exist.
The dispute also affects government formation. The Left Party won the 20 September election with 25.7 percent. The SPD and Greens have already agreed to coalition talks; violations of the joint declaration on antisemitism could be sanctioned with expulsion from a parliamentary group. The Left Party's state congress decides on 31 October; if it approves, negotiations could begin in early November.