Emde case: Berlin Left Party postpones decision on contested lawmaker
After talks involving its leadership and the full group, the Berlin Left Party reached no decision on lawmaker Vanessa Emde, who faces criticism over remarks about Israel.
Symbolic image · Photo: Abghs / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The Left Party in Berlin has failed to resolve its dispute over lawmaker Vanessa Emde. After a meeting between the parliamentary group's leadership and Emde and a subsequent session of the full group, no decision was announced, and it remained unclear how the matter would proceed. A party spokesman said the Left still saw “no common working basis” with the newly elected lawmaker from Neukölln and that the relevant bodies would discuss and decide the issue.
Emde has been criticised for her remarks about Israel. According to dpa, she said states have no right to exist, only people do, and repeated this in an Instagram video on Oct. 15. She also criticised an antisemitism declaration affirming Israel's right to exist that all group members, including herself, had signed two days earlier. A meeting planned a week earlier did not take place because Emde called in sick.