Approval of the left to the Sudan mission: Overdue learning process

This has never happened before. The Left Party voted unanimously for a Bundeswehr deployment abroad. It’s a glimmer of hope.

The parliamentary group leader of the Left Party, Jan Korte, in the Bundestag Photo: Achille Aboud/imago

Sure, the few votes from the smallest parliamentary group didn’t matter when the Bundestag later on Wednesday afternoon gave its approval to the Bundeswehr’s rescue mission in Sudan. Nevertheless, the voting behavior of the members of the Left Party was the most interesting thing about this decision, which can otherwise be booked as a formality. The left faction voted in favor of this deployment of the Bundeswehr abroad with an overwhelming majority, with just a few abstentions and no dissenting votes. This has never happened before.

Is that a betrayal of the basic peace policy positions of the left? Not at all, it is rather a small glimmer of hope that the party, which is in serious trouble and at odds, has not yet given up completely, but can even learn from mistakes. Because such a serious mistake was made shortly before the 2021 federal election in dealing with the evacuation mission of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan, which only a small minority in the parliamentary group did not refuse to approve. That was a disaster, for which the Left Party was punished by missing the five percent hurdle. Anyone who puts ideological obstinacy above saving human lives should not be surprised if voters turn away in disgust.

It’s good that there is at least one party in the Bundestag that fundamentally rejects military logic. This includes not only rebelling against German plans for armaments, but also generally rejecting foreign deployments by the Bundeswehr. But that must not be a ritual and cannot mean not looking closely at each individual case. The Left Party has shown itself incapable of doing this for too long. As a matter of principle, not wanting to distinguish between a war effort and a rescue operation that is clearly limited in terms of time and space does not correspond to a basic pacifist or anti-militarist attitude, but is simply irresponsible – and in case of doubt it will cost people’s lives.

The Sudan vote shows that there has been a learning process here. That is gratifying – and long overdue. Because it still applies: The truth is always concrete.