SITTING down with The Economist in her office in Berlin, Sahra Wagenknecht is restless: "Do we think that anyone can just migrate to Germany and have a claim to social welfare?" asks the doyenne of the Left ( Die Linke), a socialist party. "Or do we say that labour migration is more of a problem?" The party's leader in the Bundestag worries about its direction. "If you concentrate more on hip, urban sorts of voters-on identity and lifestyle debates-you don't speak to the poorest in society. They no longer feel properly represented." Her answer, launched on August 4th, is a new, non-party movement called "Rise Up" designed to reach those who have switched off from politics. It may point to a significant realignment in both German and European politics.
The Left was formed in 2005 when leftists who had quit the Social Democrats (SPD) merged with the successor party to the...
The Economist: Europe