The resignation of the Left Chairwoman in Rhineland-Palatinate, Melanie Wery-Sims, continues to make waves in the party. The remaining state board decided on a party exclusion procedure against a district chairman who is accused of sexist statements about the 38-year-old. He refused to leave the party of his own free will, said state manager Fabian Bauer on Thursday in Mainz. Cooperation with the district chairman was discontinued with immediate effect.
Wery-Sims announced her departure from the party on Monday, just nine months after she was elected state chair. The left is "far too much about inner-party trench warfare," she said. Wery-Sims mentioned the internal party discussions about sexism and sexualised assaults in their own ranks, the party's attitude towards Russia and her candidacy for federal treasurer of the Left Party, which failed at the party conference in June. She wants to remain politically active - "but I can achieve so much more as an activist than within the party".
The remaining party chairman Stefan Glander had expressed his regret at Wery-Sims' decision and announced that the left would "reorganize itself for the benefit of the party". The state party will decide on the successor on September 24 at a party conference in Mainz. At the last party congress, the left in Rhineland-Palatinate still had 1,815 members. There are now only 1638 left.
In the federal election, the Rhineland-Palatinate left had fallen back to its worst state result of 3.3 percent. As early as March 2021, she again missed entering the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament with 2.5 percent.
