Germany’s Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) has entered another period of upheaval after failing to clear the 5% threshold in the federal election on 23 February 2025 and now preparing to shed the founder’s name at a December party congress.
On 10 November, Sahra Wagenknecht confirmed she will not seek re-election as party chair, saying she will stay in the movement to lead a new commission on values and strategy. The party’s current co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali and MEP Fabio De Masi are slated to take over day-to-day leadership.
The electoral setback was narrow. The Federal Returning Officer’s final tally on 14 March recorded BSW with 4.981% of second votes, leaving the party outside the Bundestag. The FDP also fell short, while Die Linke re-entered with 8.8%. Seat allocations were unchanged from the provisional result.
BSW leaders questioned aspects of the vote soon after election night and pursued legal remedies. The Federal Constitutional Court dismissed urgent applications for a recount on 13 March and later rejected further complaints in early June, leaving the certified result in place.
Attention now turns to the party’s identity and structures. A rebrand has been under discussion for months; the leadership has proposed keeping the BSW acronym while dropping Wagenknecht’s name. The long form “Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason” is due to be decided at a national congress in Magdeburg on 6–7 December. The change is intended to shift focus from a leader-centred start-up phase to a broader platform.
Policy remains the central fault line within and around BSW. The party’s programme positions it against German rearmament and weapons deliveries to active war zones, calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine, and urges a resumption of Russian energy imports. Wagenknecht and senior figures have also argued for lifting EU sanctions on Russia. These stances differentiate BSW from the governing parties and have at times aligned it tactically with AfD votes on fiscal constraints for defence, while BSW maintains it is a left-of-centre project with distinct social policy priorities.
Regionally, BSW achieved visibility in 2024 state contests and in parts of eastern Germany, but the national threshold remains the immediate strategic hurdle. The leadership transition is designed to professionalise party management, expand the second tier of vice-chairs and spokespeople, and free Wagenknecht to shape doctrine rather than handle operational tasks. Supporters argue the shift could stabilise a formation built around a prominent personality in its first year; critics inside the broader left suggest the party still lacks a coherent organisational culture beyond its founder’s brand.
