Banaszak: Left Party must solve its antisemitism problem "permanently"
Ahead of possible coalition talks in Berlin, Greens co-leader Banaszak sets the Left Party a clear condition and rejects equating it with the AfD. The Left Party decides on Saturday.
Archive image · Photo: Martin Kraft / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Greens co-leader Felix Banaszak has set Berlin's Left Party a condition ahead of possible coalition negotiations. Antisemitism was unacceptable, and the Left Party had to solve problems within its own ranks, both with individual members of its state parliamentary group and structurally, he said. "If they want to form a government with us, that has to change permanently," he told ZDF. The outcome of the talks was open, he added.
The Greens, the SPD and the Left Party agreed in a joint declaration on strong protection of Jewish life and the fight against antisemitism. Banaszak said the declaration was good but had to be put into practice. He rejected CSU leader Markus Söder's call for a "firewall to the left", saying equating the Left Party with the AfD was out of the question.
Berlin's CDU has also offered the Greens and the SPD talks, but according to SPD state leader Bettina König these are not exploratory talks. The Greens are open to talks with all democratic forces, Banaszak said, but the election result gives the Left Party the mandate to form a government. The Left Party will decide at a state party conference on Saturday whether coalition negotiations go ahead.