3 November 2008: Interview of Rheinischer Merkur with André Brie


Rheinischer Merkur: Is the toleration of the government in Hessen a first step on the way to a releaxed relationship between the SPD and the Left?


André Brie: It is a further step in that direction. Hessen is the first West German large territory where something like that happens, and it therefore commands highest symbolic significance. Yet, I do not expect that a really large breakthrough will be possible before the Federal Elections in 2009.


RM: Why would it fail?


Brie: The SPD has a panic fear to get pushed into a common trench warfare with the Left and is not ready for a left turn at this point.


RM: How can the Left in the long term become a full-blown partner for the SPD?


Brie: It is necessary to develop the culture for such an alliance. On the one hand, we need a lasting independent profile beyond the SPD. On the other hand, we need to be ready for realistic politics and compromises.


RM: Why is there no culture yet in the Left for an alliance with the SPD?


Brie: We still haven't clarified our programmatic and strategic orientation sufficiently. That means that we should lead confrontations with the SPD in a way that does not tear open yet new trenches.


RM: Do you trust Oskar Lafontaine with pursuing a course of reconciliation with the SPD?


Brie: Certainly, it won't fail because of him. From the SPD, I always hear the objection that as long as he is head of party and fraction, it won't come to that. That, to me, is not a responsible argument.


RM: At the moment, the Left can ask a lot, however, it needs to do very little. That contributes to its popularity. Won't it risk this success if it accepts compromises?


Brie: That is conceivable. Precisely for that reason, our strategic profile is so decisive. And you need to tell the voters very honestly that many goals can only be reached in the long term, and cannot be realised already by individual electoral results.


RM: Is the Left dishonest?


Brie: No, certainly not at the local level. We have decent concepts, but many of them are not concrete and realistic enough to be put to the test. At the moment, a lot of votes fall simply into our lap because of a mood of protest in the population and the erosion of the popular parties. However, this won't be sufficient for the duration. We need to give an answer to the question for a radically renewed policy aimed at overcoming capitalism.


RM: How do you imagine a new Left of the 21st century that could supply this answer?


Brie: It must stand in the continuity of the left aspiration to social equality and security and open itself at the same time to the whole contradictoriness of contemporary policy and the cultural changes in modern society.


RM: What distinguishes the Left Party in this respect from the SPD?


Brie: We did not abandon the socially excluded, but on the contrary, pulled them into the focus of our policy. By way of low wages, precarious work relationships or Hartz IV, millions of people despite dropping jobless figures are excluded from society. Now, it is our task to develop a modern, left-wing profile beyond that. We need to offer a libertarian policy with feminist contents and an ecological orientation. And our criticism of the current orientation of globalisation and the European Union must be linked to a positive attitude to globalisation and Europisation and its chances.


RM: Does the Left Party still think too much in nation-state categories?

Brie: Yes, I am convinced of that. Parts of my party succumb to the temptation in the gale of globalisation to retract to the nation state. I consider that contraproductive, backward-looking and even dangerous.


RM: At this point, your party witnesses one success after the other. What happens if this series tears off? Does this threaten the existence of the Left?


Brie: It would be foolish and irresponsible if we believed that a lasting perspective was already guaranteed to the Left. Next to the mentioned political and strategic tasks, there is in my opinion, an additional problem. Beyond the generation of Oskar Lafontaine, Gregor Gysi and Lothar Bisky, there are still no personalities in sight who could guarantee integration towards the inside, and at the same time emit radiance towards the outside. That does not mean that we don't have good people, but this specific force of personality is not there.


RM: You think far ahead. How much of the GDR past is still alive in the Left Party?


Brie: A couple of ten-thousand members, in the positive as well as in the negative sense. There are many who took the failure of the GDR as an occasion to reflect on a radically new policy. Conversely, there are also very many, who for emotional or personal reasons, maybe also due to political limitations, simply want to go for a backward-looking policy.


RM: Does the party in the meantime have a positive relationship to parliamentary democracy and to the Basic Law?


Brie: Basically yes, but it does not go unchallenged. We want more direct participation of the citizens. Parliamentary democracy is not sufficient in our opinion. Yet, even if from our point of view, it is not the ideal form of participation, it is indispensable, valuable and must be defended also by us without compromise. To this insight, there also belongs the respect of parties with a different profile. We do not need to consider CDU, FDP or SPD as anti-democratic only because they defend different positions than we do.


The conversation was conducted by Markus Fels and Jan Kuhlmann.