[12][13][14] It was subsequently joined by others including former Left party leader Klaus Ernst, Fabio De Masi, and former mayor of Düsseldorf Thomas Geisel.

[21] Sahra Wagenknecht blames Die Linke's successive electoral failures (the party's national share of the vote having fallen from 12% in 2009 to 5% in 2021) on its emphasis on policies to combat sexist, racist or homophobic discrimination, to the detriment of economic issues.

She argues for the primacy of the latter, in contrast to the intersectional approach of the party's leadership, which uses the term "classism" to refer to the social question as a form of discrimination, in the same way as sexism or racism.

[17] The latter label is used in part due to its far-left economic positions and right-wing stances on some social issues,[62] which have been described by Wurthmann as being popular among anti-establishment and right-leaning voters.

[66] Political scientist Hajo Funke rejects labelling BSW as either syncretic or right-wing, arguing that the party is "pragmatic, socially and economically left-wing, and peace-policy-oriented."

The Guardian described the party as "combining both leftwing and rightwing policies – campaigning on everything from more generous pensions and an increase in the minimum wage to constraining climate protection measures and toughening asylum regulations".

In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Wagenknecht stated that her party is "obviously not right-wing", instead being left-wing in the sense of "striving for more social justice, good wages, decent pensions" and "a foreign policy that returns to the tradition of détente instead of relying more and more on the military card".

[74] However, Wagenknecht omitted the label left-wing (links) within the name of the new party, saying that "many people today associate [it] with completely different content" and with "elitist debates", and that the BSW would appeal to a "broad spectrum of potential voters".

[76] Wagenknecht published a five-page manifesto that focused on issues like deteriorating bridges and roads, bad mobile phone reception, slow internet, and overwhelmed administrations.

BSW is strongly critical of growing social injustice, the power and influence of multinational corporations, and the German taxation system, which it decries as unfair.

It calls for state intervention against market-dominating big companies and infringing "digital monopolists", which it identifies as Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple; it argues that large corporations undermine democracy and must be broken down.

For BSW, the main reason behind current wealth inequality were neoliberal reforms and globalisation, which oriented the economy towards low-paid basic service jobs, which became the majority of the workers.

[79] The party presents its anti-immigration stance as a way to protect the German welfare state, arguing that it needs social solidarity to function that mass immigration could disturb.

Wagenknecht argued that while everyone "should live their own way", Germany has an issue where "people with a traditional family no longer feel valued and someone who is white, male and heterosexual almost has to apologize for it".

[82] The party is also against loosening regulations on legally changing one's gender; Wagenknecht believes that such a law "turns parents and children into guinea pigs for an ideology that only benefits the pharmaceutical lobby.

"[80] Wagenknecht seeks to distance herself and her party from what she considers "lifestyle leftists" that focus on identity politics and "an attitude of moral superiority", at the cost of neglecting blue-collar workers and the poor.

She argues that mainstream left-wing parties abandoned "globalisation losers", which she defines as workers disadvantaged by migration pressures and overseas market competition.

Wagenknecht identifies this "lifestyle leftism" as the main reason behind the rise of right-wing populism in Europe: Left liberal arrogance nurtures rightist gains of [political] territory.

[81]The BSW accuses other left-wing parties of elitism and the "new education privilege", stating that they have become dominated by urban academia and no longer represent the lower socioeconomic classes of society.

The party puts an emphasis on traditional family values and regional identities, criticizing social progressivism as an extension of market-liberal policies that "weaken cohesion and valuable mutual connections that previously offered people security and support".

[84] The BSW strongly criticizes the involvement of German troops in the South China Sea, opposing proposals to deploy ships there and calling for negotiations instead.

The BSW argued that the "ruling parties" are afraid that they would be punished in the 2025 federal election and described the inclusion of the Bundeverfassungsgericht in the basic law, which can only be changed with a 2/3 majority, as "undemocratic".

[91] Wagenknecht criticized the Scholz cabinet for depriving the German economy of the cheap Russian gas and providing no alternative sources of affordable energy; similarly, BSW is critical of the EU's heating law and plans to ban combustion engine cars - Wagenknecht described these policies as "an attack on citizens' wealth and property; it is poorly thought out, poorly crafted and useless in terms of climate policy".

[101] Wagenknecht argued that the war was provoked by "NATO expansionism" and the "unwillingness of Western countries to respond to negotiation readiness by Putin"; BSW rejects sanctions against Russia as driving an economic crisis for the workers.

"[108] The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) general secretary Kevin Kühnert commented that "Sahra Wagenknecht has been a very established one-woman opposition for 30 years.

CDU deputy party leader Andreas Jung told Die Welt: "Anti-Americanism, proximity to Putin, and socialism are completely incompatible with our stance.

[112] Party researchers generally assume that BSW could challenge the AfD for votes due to its views about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and migration.

[112] Deutschlandfunk commented: "For the AfD, a Wagenknecht party would be direct competition that could cost it a few percentage points and reduce its own voter potential among those disappointed by politics.

[113] About BSW attracting AfD voters, Die Zeit stated: "Even if Wagenknecht wants to limit rather than promote immigration, she is not yet known to have openly racist and right-wing extremist attitudes and resentments.

Political scientist Benjamin Höhne commented: "The niche BSW is opening up – stressing social justice, and at the same time ... [Wagenknecht] positioning herself in a more migration-sceptical way – has potential.