Günther demands Left party leader Pantisano resign after fascism comparison

The minister-president from the north is thus the first prominent Union politician to openly call for the new Left party leader's resignation following the controversial remarks. Günther's attack came just days after Pantisano's election as co-chairman of the Left party at a federal party congress in Potsdam.

Trigger: Bild interview before the election

Shortly before his election, Pantisano had said in a video interview with Bild that there was «gar keinen Unterschied zwischen der CDU, die faschistische Politik macht, der AfD oder den Faschisten selbst». The statement caused considerable unease even during the ongoing party congress. In the vote for co-chairman on Saturday, Pantisano received just 53 percent of delegates' votes – a result regarded internally as a clear setback.

Pantisano sought to limit the damage on Sunday. On the ZDF programme «Berlin direkt», he explained: «Meine Aussage, es gebe derzeit keinen Unterschied zwischen der Politik der CDU und der AfD, war verkürzt und in dieser Form falsch.» He apologized for it, «insbesondere bei denjenigen in der CDU, die immer wieder die Notwendigkeit einer klaren Brandmauer zur AfD betonen». At the same time, however, he stuck to his «grundsätzlichen Kritik am Rechtsruck der Union».

In a written statement to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), the Left party politician added: «Ich will klarstellen, das war eine verkürzte Darstellung meinerseits.» He also rejected accusations that he had not distanced himself sufficiently from antisemitic chat messages from within the Left party's youth organization. These had «in unserer Partei keinen Platz». The Left youth leadership had responded to the reports and was dealing with the matter.

Sharp criticism from the Union

There was sharp criticism from the Union. CDU Secretary-General Carsten Linnemann declared that «wer Christdemokraten mit Faschisten gleichsetzt, disqualifiziert sich für jede politische Verantwortung». He added to dpa: «Herr Pantisano hatte gestern die Chance, sich in Interviews von seiner niederträchtigen Unterstellung zu distanzieren. Das hat er nicht getan.» Linnemann called on the Left party to provide clarity: «Entweder er tritt als Vorsitzender sofort zurück oder die Meinung von Herrn Pantisano ist Parteimeinung.»

Linnemann also attacked the Left party's programmatic orientation. «Die Linke habe aus der Geschichte nichts gelernt», he criticized. Moreover, antisemitism was «keine Randerscheinung mehr, sondern mitten in der Partei angekommen». The CDU secretary-general pointed to a corresponding warning from the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Its president, Josef Schuster, had told Die Welt that the Left party was making itself «für Jüdinnen und Juden unwählbar» with its resolutions. Linnemann also called on the Greens and SPD to distance themselves from the Left party.

CSU Secretary-General Martin Huber followed suit in Munich. «Der neue Linken-Vorsitzende Luigi Pantisano muss nach seinem katastrophalen Fehlstart sofort zurücktreten», Huber told dpa. Anyone who equated the Union with fascists «gefährdet den politischen Diskurs und greift unsere Demokratie frontal an». Huber spoke of a «echten politischen Skandal, der die Opfer von Faschismus ebenso verhöhnt, wie er Demokratinnen und Demokraten in unserem Land beleidigt». The Left party was a «sozialistisches Irrlicht».

Internal criticism within the Left party as well

The reactions from the Union were thus coordinated. The secretary-generals of CDU and CSU had already taken a sharp public stance against the newly elected Left party leader before Pantisano's apology. Linnemann had declared in Bild that the Left party was harming political discourse with its equation of Union and AfD and was forcing its own party to take a clear position.

Within the Left party itself, Pantisano's statement also drew clear criticism. The eastern German state associations in particular reacted angrily. The parliamentary managing director of the Left party in Saxony-Anhalt, Eva von Angern, described the remark as «nicht nur unglücklich, sondern inakzeptabel». Von Angern, who is standing as the lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, had previously spoken out in favour of possible tactical alliances with the CDU to prevent an AfD government in the state.

Pantisano defends criticism of rightward course

Pantisano was elected as the new co-chairman at the federal party congress in Potsdam with 53 percent of the vote. He thus succeeds Jan van Aken, who had not stood again. Alongside him, Ines Schwerdtner was confirmed as co-chairwoman – according to reports, she received just under 86 percent of delegates' votes. Given the narrow result, Pantisano's election is regarded internally as a weak start to his new role.

The political situation in Saxony-Anhalt also forms the backdrop to the controversy. A new state parliament will be elected there in the autumn. If the AfD does not win an absolute majority of mandates, the incumbent Minister-President Sven Schulze (CDU) would likely need the Left party's votes for his re-election. Members of the Left party in Saxony-Anhalt had assured their voters that they would, if necessary, support a CDU-led minority government to prevent AfD participation in government.

Background: State election in Saxony-Anhalt

At the same time, rumours circulated in CDU circles that some angry CDU members of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt could vote for AfD top candidate Ulrich Siegmund in the event of coalition talks with the Left party. A few days before the reporting, a so-called «Kumpel-Foto» of Saxony-Anhalt's CDU parliamentary group leader Guido Heuer with Siegmund had also surfaced. Pantisano commented: «Und wenn ein CDU-Fraktionsvorsitzender kumpelt mit dem Spitzenkandidaten der AfD, dann bereitet mir das große Sorgen.»

Pantisano also tried over the weekend to distinguish between democratic opponents and enemies of democracy. He told dpa: «Die Unterscheidung zwischen politischen Gegnern innerhalb des demokratischen Spektrums und denen, die die Demokratie abschaffen wollen, dürfen wir nicht verwischen.» He also reaffirmed his concern about a further political coming-together of CDU and AfD: «Ebenso bleibt meine Sorge über ein mögliches weiteres politisches Zusammenrücken von CDU und AfD bestehen. Diese Entwicklung bereitet mir große Sorgen.»

Antisemitism debate and Gaza resolution

Independent of the personnel debate, the Left party's federal congress had passed a resolution in which the Israeli army's actions in the Gaza Strip are described as «Genozid». This resolution had drawn additional criticism from, among others, Jewish organizations. Central Council chairman Schuster told Die Welt that the Left party was providing «dem wachsenden Antisemitismus weiteren Vorschub» with its resolution.

At the same time, the Left party faces the task of responding to accusations linked to antisemitic chat messages from within the Left youth organization. Pantisano declared on ZDF that they were now discussing together with the youth organization how to tackle the problem and draw consequences. However, he left open the question of whether funding for the youth organization should be cut.

The Left party had achieved a record result of 8.8 percent in last year's federal election. The conflict that has now arisen between Pantisano's remarks and the immediate calls for his resignation from the Union thus poses a challenge to the new dual leadership of Pantisano and Schwerdtner right at the start of their term in office. The CDU politician Günther had previously spoken out in favour of the CDU being able to coalition with the Left party in the eastern German states – a context that particularly highlights the current sharpness of his tone towards Pantisano.