"We are fighting in Berlin to turn the city red," read the lead motion presented to the delegates at the Left Party's federal party convention. Red is the color of the Left Party, but also of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). According to latest polls, a three-way coalition of both alongside the Greens could secure a majority in the September election for the city state's parliament.
Berlin has been "red" in the past. From 2016 to 2023 it was governed by such a three-way coalition — under the leadership of successive SPD mayors. This time, the Left Party is dreaming of winning the election and taking over the mayoralty itself with its candidate Elif Eralp. The 45-year-old has a remarkable background: Her parents were active in politics and trade unions in Turkey before fleeing to Germany in 1980 as asylum-seekers following a military coup, just weeks before Eralp's birth. Elif Eralp is the Left Party's top candidate for this year's Berlin state election on September 20Image: Soeren Stache/dpa/picture alliance
Winning the election won't be easy. Berlin's current governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) still leads the polls at 20%, but Eralp is hoping to win not only in her party's traditionally left-wing base in neighborhoods like Neukölln and Friedrichshain, but also farther afield. The party wants to replicate the "miracle of New York," where the socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor despite significant opposition.
