Red-green-red: It's time to pull the rip line in Berlin

The fact that the Social Democrats and the Greens now want to tread the path in Berlin to form a coalition with the Left Party is a bad development on several levels. First and mainly because Berlin left-wing politicians raise doubts as to whether they stand on the ground of the liberal-democratic basic order of the Basic Law. Secondly, because political projects outlined in the exploratory paper of the three parties would be harmful. And by the way, such a left-wing alliance in the federal capital would be a party-tactical risk for Reds and Greens. The main thing is anti-Semitism. It is not a question of not expressing criticism of the Israeli Government or of the actions of its forces in Gaza and the West Bank. Rather, it is not acceptable to deny the State of Israel the right to exist, because its enemies desire its destruction in order to “drive the Jews into the sea”. Such positions are tolerated in the Berlin Left Party – at least until further notice. The decision on MEP Emde was postponed on Tuesday. She stands prominently for this topic, but by no means the only one. Their expulsion would be a tear test for the party, but their non-expulsion for the desired alliance. On the ground of the free democratic basic order? No less serious is the sympathy in the Left Party for the extremist “Red Aid”. Here, too, we must not allow ourselves to be clouded by the assertion that it is only a question of providing people with the legal representation they are entitled to in court. In Germany, it is secured for everyone, including people who want to believe that they are only in court because they are “leftists”. If someone wants to give them a particularly powerful defense and pay for it, he is also free. But in no way acceptable is the mafia law of silence that “Red Aid” imposes on those it supports: no remorse, no confession, no cooperation with the state. Elif Eralp, the Governing Mayor, has left this club. But according to their own statement, because of a few aspects; fundamentally broke with him she did not. And there were even left-wing politicians who even entered there. Damaging are the plans for expropriations, which would not solve the real housing problem, but exacerbate it. Apart from that, they would probably either be ruinous or the compensation amounts unconstitutionally low. The project to open up the right to vote for foreigners outside the European Union is highly problematic, for which a stay of five years in Germany should suffice. These projects are in the exploratory paper, so they are also supported by the Greens and the SPD. Broken relationship with the Federal Republic This also applies to the intention to deny the Bundeswehr access to Berlin schools, which represent their task and work there and of course also want to make themselves interesting for potential young people. This is exactly what the Berlin would-be rulers reject, who thereby express a rather broken relationship with the state they want to represent. For the SPD, this is a break with its own federal government and the Social Democratic Defense Minister; For the Greens, this is a relapse into a fundamental pacifism which they have laboriously, but with good reason, overcome over the past forty years, as one of their own recently pointed out in the FAZ. The Left Party is ultimately heir to the SED, which once led the eastern part of Germany into political, moral and economic collapse. That in itself would be a reason not to wish them to head a government again, especially not in Berlin. But although it would have been better to dissolve them after reunification and confiscate the SED assets, politicians of their successor parties have contributed to the new system and have already (co-)ruled respectably here and there (even in Berlin). At least the Berlin State Association, however, seems to have partly detached itself from the Federal Republican basic consensus, precisely those that contributed to the recent upswing of the Left Party. For this, the episode with the clan leader appeared on the left-wing election party is an indication that should not be dismissed as a slip-up. Thus, the looming Berlin experiment also carries a risk for those red and green party tacticians who dream of a “progressive alliance” beyond the federal capital. There is still time to pull the rip line.