Die Linke co-chair Pantisano defends Berlin housing expropriation and auto works socialisation in ZDF summer interview
Die Linke co-chair Luigi Pantisano used his first ZDF summer interview to defend expropriation of Berlin housing corporations and socialisation of threatened auto plants, while retracting his earlier comparison of the CDU to fascists.
Interview setting and opening
Luigi Pantisano, who co-chairs Die Linke with Ines Schwerdtner, gave his first ZDF summer interview as party leader on Sunday evening, recorded outdoors in Stuttgart, the city where he ran for the Bundestag in constituency Stuttgart I. The 37-year-old, born in nearby Waiblingen to Italian immigrants from Calabria, was questioned by ZDF capital studio chief Diana Zimmermann. The conversation ranged across housing, industrial policy, defence spending, Ukraine and a previous controversy over remarks comparing the CDU to fascists.
Housing and expropriation
Pantisano made expropriation of large Berlin housing corporations a central theme, returning to it repeatedly even when Zimmermann asked about other subjects. He cited the 2021 Berlin referendum in which 57.6% of voters approved expropriating large corporate landlords, calling it a mandate the party carries into coalition talks. Zimmermann countered that he likely lacked majority support for the policy. Pantisano said the party would fight first for a strong election result and aimed to provide Berlin's governing mayor, adding that Berliners should not work half the month for the shareholders of Vonovia.
He named Vienna as his urban model, where roughly two thirds of apartments are city-owned, compared with about 10% in Stuttgart.
- Vienna
- 66.7 %
- Stuttgart
- 10 %
- Revenue
- 1290 €M
- Loss
- -78 €M
Industrial policy and defence
To safeguard jobs, Pantisano proposed transferring threatened auto factories into public or cooperative ownership, arguing that employees should be more involved in corporate decisions and that the industry crisis stems partly from management errors. When Zimmermann questioned whether state-run car plants would be more successful, Pantisano said workers' knowledge and experience should carry more weight. On defence spending, he claimed roughly every third euro of the federal budget goes to armaments and called for lower military expenditure.
Ukraine and the CDU controversy
Asked whether Die Linke would supply air defence systems to Ukraine, Pantisano said diplomacy must end the war first. On whether Germany needs better drone defence after an incident at Leipzig/Halle airport, he deferred to experts. Zimmermann also pressed him on his earlier statement that there was no difference between a CDU pursuing fascist politics, the AfD and fascists themselves. Pantisano called the remark false and said he wanted to express concern that no politician should take the country away from its people. SPD and Green MPs had previously criticised the comparison as a dangerous relativisation typically used by right-wing extremists.
Worker appeal and election strategy
Zimmermann noted that only 4% of workers voted for Die Linke in the Baden-Württemberg state elections. Pantisano acknowledged the party's mistakes, saying it had spoken a lot about workers in recent years but too little with them. He also addressed the possibility of supporting the CDU to prevent an AfD takeover in Saxony-Anhalt, saying Die Linke had repeatedly taken responsibility to block the AfD. Asked who would govern with Die Linke in Berlin given that SPD lead candidate Steffen Krach rejects expropriation, Pantisano replied that the decisive coalition partner is the people of Berlin.
