Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Mary Merkenich recently spoke with Daniel Kipka-Anton from German left party Die Linke. Kipka-Anton is a campaign team member and works in the parliamentary office of Ferat Koçak, the party’s newly elected MP in Berlin’s Neukölln district. Koçak’s victory was a first for Die Linke in an area formerly part of West Germany. Koçak is the party’s spokesperson on anti-fascism and climate.
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What explains Die Linke’s success in the recent German elections?
After the future Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz (leader of the Christian Democatic Union party or CDU), collaborated with the neo-Nazi party, the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) the left party — Die Linke — was able to gain support as the only credible, consistently anti-fascist party.
But that alone would not have been enough for our success in the district of Neukölln in Berlin. Ultimately, Die Linke has never previously won an election in the former West Germany. It was a combination of two things. Ferat was seen as a trustworthy person who would carry out politics differently. Among other policies, he has limited his income to €2500 (A$4302) [a month] and he is a very approachable person, who knows Neukölln very well. Secondly, the election campaign inspired and galvanised thousands of people and they ensured its success.
How did you build your election campaign and the party’s comeback from its decline in representation in the Bundestag (parliament)?
That wasn’t easy. We were surprised when the elections were brought forward. There were only a few weeks instead of several months during which to build our campaign. But we were able to inspire people with our ideas.
More than 2000 people volunteered, door-knocked 136,000 homes and asked many thousands what their most pressing wants and problems were. Admittedly, the objective circumstances were good and Die Linke got support as the only credible anti-fascist force. But without this excellent campaign and the collective sense of self-empowerment, our success in Neukölln would not have been possible.
How will you use Ferat’s position in the Bundestag to build a grassroots or extra-parliamentary movement against the AfD and against the neoliberal, anti-immigration, anti-refugee and anti-people politics?
A loud voice representing the anti-fascist movement in Parliament can boost this movement. But the most important work against the right will take place in the neighbourhoods, on the streets and in workplaces. To conquer the AfD, we have to accomplish both; demonstrating an alternative of solidarity to the austerity politics and secondly, to confront racism wherever it exists.
What will you do about the cuts to the social welfare system?
We must now try to build societal majorities and consider which struggles we can currently win. In the real world for most people, above all, the central question is the rent madness. We believe that a campaign for a nationwide rent cap, for instance, might be perfectly timed to pick up steam right now.
How will you work for more equality between the former states of East Germany and those of the former West Germany?
The incomes in the former East Germany on average are 17% lower than those in the former West Germany. The pensions, even after 40 years of contributions to superannuation, are €150 (A$258.13) lower than in West Germany. The previous SPD [Party of Democratic Socialism], Greens and FDP [Free Democrats] coalition government did nothing to alter that.
East Germans produce as much as everyone else, but they don’t receive the same. That, at long last has to change and Die Linke will commit to that.
There are, regrettably, differences about the genocide in Gaza within Die Linke. Do you see a solution or have an idea about how this situation can continue?
Neukölln has the largest Palestinian community in Europe. For that reason alone, it was always important to have a clear position. Every day here, people are afraid about whether relatives or friends in Gaza or the West Bank will be killed by the Israeli military. The German federal government is silent about this. But I am finally noticing that there are now many more leftists who no longer support this policy. That is urgently required, and we must build on that if we are to oppose German weapons exports to Israel.
There are also differences about refugee deportations. Can a resolution be found or must these differences inside the party, and in general in the German left, be further debated?
For the vast majority of members of Die Linke, there are no differences. We are in solidarity with all those people who must flee to Germany. In practice, however, unfortunately, it has been the case that Die Linke members in state governments were involved in the deportations. And there was a group around Sahra Wagenknecht (a former leader of Die Linke), who also favoured repressive policies against refugees before they eventually left Die Linke. The discussion about migration in the party must continue, but nevertheless, the vast majority in Die Linke have a position and practice of solidarity.
What kind of governmental coalition do you think the CDU/CSU (Christian Social Union) will form?
It will probably boil down to a coalition with the SPD. With Chancellor Merz, that will mean unjust politics on the backs of the workers, paired with racism and more deportations. It is all the more important that we organise people together with the many new members of Die Linke and in our neighbourhoods against this kind of politics.