Pantisano: Government is "afraid of a strong Left Party" in Berlin
Dobrindt's plan to make it harder by law to socialise housing draws sharp criticism from the Left Party. Constitutional lawyer Battis also sees risks, above all regarding compensation.
Symbolic image · Photo: Jörg Zägel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Left Party co-leader Luigi Pantisano sharply criticised plans by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to make the socialisation of housing harder by law. "The federal government is afraid of a strong Left Party that pushes through people's interests in Berlin," he said on Sunday. Berliners had twice decided in favour of socialising large housing stocks, he said: in a referendum and by electing the Left Party as the strongest force.
Pantisano accused Dobrindt and the Merz government of caring more about shareholders of the Vonovia group than about Berlin tenants, and said such a law would not survive at the Federal Constitutional Court. "The federal SPD now has to decide which side it is on." According to the Interior Ministry, Dobrindt's key points would cap compensation at market value, require payment in cash and demand explicit proof that socialisation is necessary.
Constitutional lawyer Ulrich Battis sees the cap at market value as the main problem. "There is constitutional leeway on the amount of compensation," he told the Funke media group, adding that he considered restricting it "risky". The other requirements could be implemented well, he said, but a federal rule would in his view limit the states' room for manoeuvre.