In Neukölln, Ferat Koçak is running for the Bundestag as the candidate for Die Linke. His posters are everywhere — maybe more than those of all the other parties combined. #TeamFerat in red vests even knocked on my door. In the last election, Die Linke was only fourth place in this district — but now they think they have a chance at a sensational win.
Should I vote for Ferat? I’m torn.
On the one hand: Ferat is a local legend. On February 1, 2018, Nazis tried to murder him and his family with an arson attack on their home. He stood up against this far-right terrorism, never denying how scared it made him, and inspired countless people across the city. Since 2021, the 45-year-old Kurdish activist has been a member of the Berlin parliament, where he has regularly denounced police brutality. He is running with a lot of good demands. If elected to the Bundestag, he won’t take the absurd salary of over €11,000 per month, and will only keep a worker’s wage of €2,500. Unlike almost any other politician in Germany, Koçak has put out flyers expressing solidarity with Palestine and calling for an end to weapons shipments to Israel.
On the other hand: Ferat is not running as an individual — he is the official candidate of the party Die Linke. On the campaign trail, Die Linke says it wants to be a “social opposition.” Yet they are currently part of coalition governments in two states, and they recently voted for CDU-led governments in two more states. Die Linke has been in a government somewhere every day since the party was founded. In Berlin, “left” ministers have been responsible for privatizations (including selling off 200,000 public housing units), deportations, and evictions. The party’s three most prominent candidates, Bodo Ramelow, Dietmar Bartsch, and Gregor Gysi, are all closely connected to the German imperialist state.
Don’t talk about the war: When it comes to the genocide in Gaza, the party’s policy is “don’t talk about the war.” It’s astounding that a supposedly left-wing party has been silent while German weapons have been used for genocide. Some party leaders like Bartsch, Petra Pau, or Martin Schirdewan have been full-throated defenders of German Staatsräson, attacking the Palestine solidarity movement, and even Jewish activists, as antisemitic. Die Linke voted for resolutions in solidarity with Israel and for banning Palestinian organizations. The party recently expelled Ramsis Kilani for his solidarity work. The first time a pro-Palestinian demonstration was banned in Berlin was on the Nakba Day in 2021 — while Die Linke was part of the government.
Where does Ferat stand? He obviously doesn’t agree with Die Linke’s leadership on lots of things. But will he stand up against them? I’ve seen Ferat’s pro-Palestine positions on printed fliers in the Kiez, but he barely mentions Gaza online. His name is notably missing from the solidarity statement with Ramsis. Any politician on the left wing of a reformist party is under tremendous pressure. Back in 2021, Die Linke formed a coalition with the racist, neoliberal Franziska Giffey — even though she had openly said that she would sabotage the referendum to socialize big corporate landlords. When the parliament elected her mayor, Giffey was missing multiple votes from her coalition. I assume Ferat didn’t vote for her, but he never said in public that he would refuse to support his party’s government
Who should I vote for? I’m definitely not voting for the “government socialists” of Die Linke. But should I give my Erststimme, the one just for Neukölln, to Ferat? I like the idea of having someone in the Bundestag who is genuinely left-wing. But will Ferat stand up to figures like Bartsch and Ramelow? I could vote for him if he declared he would vote against the government’s pro-Israel resolutions, regardless of what his party said. Or if he opposed every deportation — even if it was carried out by his “comrades.” Or if he would vote against all German weapons shipments. But he hasn’t been running against the majority of his party. He’s been smiling in videos alongside reformist politicians who support genocide, and calling on people to vote for them with the Zweitstimme, the general vote, as well.
In short, I would vote for Ferat if he were trying to build up an anticapitalist party. But he is trying to rejuvenate a pro-capitalist party. As much as I respect him as an activist, I can’t vote for anyone who wants to administer the capitalist state. We are told that a vote for Die Linke will strengthen the opposition to the far right. But whenever Die Linke has gotten particularly good results, they have taken ministerial posts and carried out right-wing policies themselves.That’s why I am supporting the campaigns of Inés Heider in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Franziska Thomas in Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Leonie Lieb in Munich-West. I will stand together with Ferat and any member of Die Linke at protests against racism and austerity — but often, these will be protests against Die Linke politicians. So the main priority is to make sure that we build up a revolutionary socialist Left, so that everywhere in Germany has the option to vote for anticapitalist workers.