The 46-year-old architect and urban planner Pantisano, who has been a member of the Bundestag since last year, replaces the 65-year-old Jan van Aken. Van Aken had declined to run again for health reasons. Pantisano ran unopposed and received the backing of the previous party leadership and parliamentary group leader Heidi Reichinnek.
Even before his election, Pantisano caused a stir. In an interview with the tabloid “Bild”, he accused the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of “fascist politics” and equated it with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The remark drew criticism from eastern German Left party members. Eva von Angern, the party’s top candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, told the portal “t-online” that the statement did not fit Pantisano. The CDU, she said, is a democratic party. Pantisano later admitted that his wording had been “too short.”
At the party congress, Pantisano emphasized in his nomination speech that he wanted to “win back the working class for the Left” and “throw the factory gates wide open for the Left.” At the same time, he reaffirmed that the Left would only enter a government if the positions of working people were adopted. He said the party was not ready for the “neoliberal politics of the CDU, SPD, or Greens.”
Source: www.spiegel.de
