A new influential player in German politics: Who is the BSW Alliance?

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00:00For more than a decade, she was a lightning rod and leading figure for Germany's left party.

00:05Then in October last year, she quit Die Linke and by January had forged her own.

00:10The Zara Varkenekt alliance, known as BSW.

00:15She promised voters change and on Sunday they responded,

00:19affording her alliance up to 16% of the vote in the legislative election in the state of Thuringia.

00:25Coming in third and making her a kingmaker for potential coalitions.

00:30People want a stable government, a majority government above all.

00:35However, they want a government that represents their interests and tackles their problems.

00:40We very much hope that together with the CDU, we will end up with a good government.

00:46Her alliance, branded by many as the conservative left, draws on policy from both the far right and far left.

00:53On the one hand, she wants to limit immigration by, for example,

00:58cutting off aid to refugees who have been refused asylum.

01:02On the international front, she wants to initiate an agreement with Moscow and put an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine.

01:09But as a Karl Marx scholar, she also advocates higher minimum wages, better pensions and taxes on the richest.

01:16We are now going to change politics in Germany together and we are doing so because we feel that something is changing in our society.

01:26There are so many problems, so many uncertainties, but also so much indignation and anger.

01:36In less than eight months, the Sarawak Connect Alliance has become a political force to be reckoned with,

01:41particularly in its regional strongholds in eastern Germany.

01:45At the end of the two regional elections, she could negotiate a hard-fought coalition agreement with the conservative CDU.

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