Bernd Riexinger, co-chairman of Die Linke from 2012 to 2021, was elected as the new chair of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation at the foundation’s General Assembly last weekend. Lena Saniye Güngör, a member of the Thuringian state parliament, was elected as his deputy. Heike Werner, former Minister for Labor, Social Affairs, Health, Women and Family of the Free State of Thuringia, was elected Executive Director.
“My mission is to develop the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation into an important pole of attraction for trade unionists, people active in left-wing social movements and organizations, as well as left-wing intellectuals. Especially now that the Merz government is launching a general attack on the welfare state, we need a foundation that provides strategies and concepts for social and societal alternatives. Promoting critical analyses of authoritarian capitalism and developing strategies against the fascization of politics and society will be particularly important”, Riexinger explained. The foundation will launch an education offensive and create and expand debate spaces for left-leaning young people.
The other members of the Executive Board are: Michael Brie, Ulrich Brand, Alex Demirović, Philipp Frey, Franziska Heinisch, Sabine Leidig, Stephan Krull, Cornelia Möhring, Victor Perli, and Sonja Staack.
The Executive Board of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is elected by the General Assembly for three years. It consists of the chair, two deputy chairs, the executive director, and at least eight and a maximum of ten other members. The board currently has 13 members (six women and seven men). With the exception of the executive director, it is a voluntary body. A second deputy chair will be elected at a later point.