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Leaders of Germany's struggling Left party said Sunday they will not run for new office at a party conference in October.
Janine Wiesler and Martin Sherdiwan, who have led the party together since 2022, confirmed they would not run again in statements posted on the party's website.
The move comes after a series of electoral defeats and mounting criticism of the two leaders.
The far-left party, known in Germany as Die Linke, has been in crisis since the departure of a former prominent member and the subsequent haemorrhaging of support.
“I understand that there is a desire in parts of the party for a fresh start on staffing,” Whistler said in her statement. “I believe now is the right time to clarify matters, two months before the party convention, so that the party has time to conduct a transparent process and form an opinion on candidates within the party.”
The decision came a day after the leadership admitted that the party was “in an undoubtedly dangerous situation that threatens its existence” in its main proposal for the October congress.
In the last elections for the lower house, or Bundestag, in 2021, the party won just 4.9% of the vote, short of the 5% minimum needed to enter the chamber.
The party was only able to form a formal faction thanks to a special rule that favoured small parties that won at least three outright seats.
The Left party has been in decline for years, but has suffered further loss of support since popular former member Sahra Wagenknecht left the party over her anti-immigration views and founded the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in 2023.
In early June, the left-wing party won just 2.7% of the vote in the European Parliament elections.
In his statement, Sherdiwan called on party members to unite.
“Give those who will soon take over the leadership the opportunity and confidence to lead the party. This requires putting an end to the sometimes destructive power politics within our ranks,” he said.
The leaders' move comes ahead of key elections in the eastern German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September, where the Left Party is trailing in the polls.
Any other bad result would be disastrous for the party, which traces its origins to the Communist Party that ruled East Germany until reunification in 1990 and has since continued to draw most of its support from the eastern regions.
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