Schwerdtner re-elected, Pantisano joins at top of Germany's Left party after controversial remarks

Outgoing chair

Jan van Aken, who co-led Die Linke since 2024, did not stand for re-election due to health reasons. He and Schwerdtner had steered the party back into the Bundestag in the 2025 federal election with 8.8 percent of the vote, defying predictions that the party would fall below the 5-percent threshold. Membership has since doubled to roughly 126,000, and current polls put the party between 10 and 12 percent. In his farewell speech, van Aken set an ambitious goal, saying the party should aim to become a "Volkspartei" and reach 20 percent support.

So many people in Germany want what we want. And you know what? They used to call that a Volkspartei. Yes, that is my vision for Die Linke: a socialist Volkspartei here in Germany.

Controversial remarks

Pantisano, a Bundestag member from Stuttgart and the son of Italian immigrants, triggered a backlash before the vote with an interview in Bild. He said there was "no difference between the CDU, which is carrying out fascist politics, the AfD or the fascists themselves." CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann responded that anyone who equates Christian Democrats with fascists "disqualifies himself for any political responsibility."

Pantisano later conceded the formulation was "unfortunate" and "abbreviated," telling the DPA news agency: "It is about the fact that parties like the CDU are adopting the wrong policies of the AfD and thereby strengthening them." During the congress, he also said he sought to polarize and that delegates would "get that with me."

Dual leadership confirmed

Schwerdtner, first elected co-chair in October 2024, was praised by van Aken and received a standing ovation. Her 85.7 percent result underscored broad backing. Pantisano, by contrast, secured only 53.3 percent despite no opposing candidate, falling short of his own stated target of more than 70 percent. The party’s business manager Janis Ehling, credited with helping engineer the recent electoral success, was elected with around 73 percent.

Agenda and outlook

Schwerdtner called on the party to fight against social cuts planned by the black-red federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "We are fighting for every social worker in the municipality, for every sports field and for every child," she told delegates. Pantisano stressed that he wants to win back the working class and reach workers in factories.

The congress also adopted an emergency motion to organize protests against what it termed "social cuts and militarization," aiming to replicate the mobilization that grew out of the Agenda 2010 reforms two decades ago. The mood remained mostly optimistic, though debates over Gaza and the party’s position on Israel exposed tensions between a more pragmatic wing and leftist activists who pushed for stronger condemnation of Israeli actions.