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Germany: Left Co-Chair Susanne Henning-Welsow resigns

Susanne Henning-Welsow submitted her resignation last night as co-chair of the Left, citing her inability to work with all her might to address the party’s “glaring deficits” over the sexist behavior of its senior executives.

A few days ago, Der Spiegel magazine revealed that allegations of sexual violence, abuse of power and, in general, “toxic macho,” with victims even minors.

In one of these cases, a woman sought the help of Mrs Whistler, who, according to the complainant, showed a cold indifference: the alleged perpetrator was her partner.

“I apologize to those who were hurt and I support every effort that is now needed to make the Left a party in which sexism has no place,” said Ms. Henning-Welsow. She also cited her family obligations as reasons for her departure, as she has an eight-year-old son. The last few months, he said, have been “one of the most difficult phases in the party’s history”, following the negative results of the Left in both last September and, more recently, the Saarland state elections. “We have achieved much less than we promised. It was not really a new beginning. We owe our voters an apology, we betrayed their expectations,” he said.

Mrs. Henning-Welsow and Mrs. Whistler took over the leadership of the Left in February 2021, succeeding Katia Kipping and Byrd Rixinger, who remained in the leadership for nine years.

Speaking late last night on the first channel of the German public television ARD, the leader of the party’s parliamentary group, Dietmar Bartz, called for an end to the internal party dispute, while emphasizing that the Left must take the allegations very seriously. , to give all the information at its disposal and to draw the necessary conclusions. “It is obvious that there are structural problems in this area,” he acknowledged.

According to a representative of the Left, Janine Whistler wants to remain in the leadership of the party even alone, until the next step is decided. That, he clarified, was also the request of the party’s Federal Executive Council.

SOURCE: AMPE

Source: Capital

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