Berlin Left weighs expelling Vanessa Emde as red-red-green coalition talks loom

Coalition talks face two obstacles

Linke, Greens and SPD want to negotiate a joint Berlin government, but the plan is far from secure. The three parties jointly attacked interior minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) on Monday over his plan to override expropriation proposals for large housing companies with a law of his own. The Linke finished first in the 20 September election, and the outgoing CDU/SPD coalition has lost its majority. Two issues could still derail the alliance: the case of Linke lawmaker Vanessa Emde and doubts among conservatives in the SPD, who oppose an alliance with the Linke.

Linke25.7%

CDU18.8%

AfD16.3%

Greens14.3%

SPD12.1%

Linke

25.7 %

CDU

18.8 %

AfD

16.3 %

Greens

14.3 %

SPD

12.1 %

Data from the article text

The Emde case

Vanessa Emde, 45, faces possible expulsion from the Linke faction over pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel positions. During the campaign she argued that states have no right to exist, only people, and on 15 October she repeated this explicitly in an Instagram video. She also criticised an anti-antisemitism declaration that she and all other faction members had signed two days earlier, a declaration that affirms Israel's right to exist. The faction leadership said it saw no basis for working with her any longer. A meeting planned a week earlier did not take place because she reported sick.

“I stand by my statements, and I do not retract a single one of these statements.”

On Tuesday, 27 October, the faction board met Emde in the House of Representatives, with state chairs Kerstin Wolter and Max Schirmer also present. She was given the chance to set out her position, but no results were released. The full faction held its regular session that afternoon, and Emde was also on the agenda. Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority, and the statutes allow a vote no earlier than one week later, so no decision was possible at that session.

Divided reactions

Gideon Joffe, chairman of the Jewish Community of Berlin, opposed her expulsion. Speaking to RBB Inforadio, he called her view that states should not exist a legitimate opinion, but said she had expressed antisemitism by repeatedly accusing Israel of genocide.

“Because she has been confronting Israel with genocide accusations for quite some time, and that is the antisemitic part.”

Greens and SPD demanded from the start that the Linke take a clear stance against antisemitism, and they made agreement on the issue a condition for exploratory talks. The row has already complicated the three-way talks for weeks, and Greens and SPD expect the Linke to act on the principles they agreed together. The SPD state board and a small Greens party conference have already approved the exploratory paper.

What comes next

The new House of Representatives, with 153 members, convenes for the first time on Thursday, 29 October. On Saturday, 31 October, the Linke party congress will decide whether coalition talks with Greens and SPD begin. If the Linke agree, negotiations are due to conclude by mid-December, after which all three partners would have to approve a coalition agreement. Linke faction leader Elif Eralp could become the first governing mayor from her party in Berlin if the alliance forms.