Janine Wissler

Janine Natalie Wißler (born 23 May 1981), known professionally as Janine Wissler, is a German politician who has been co-chairwoman of The Left and member of the Bundestag for Hesse since 2021. Prior to that, she served as member of the Landtag of Hesse since 2008 and leader of the state parliamentary group since 2009, including as sole leader since 2014, as well as deputy leader of the federal party since 2014. She was one of The Left's lead candidates for the 2021 German federal election, alongside Dietmar Bartsch.

Education and personal life Wissler attended the Dreieich Wingert School from 1987 to 1991 and the Dreieich Ricarda Huch School from 1991 to 2001. She then completed a degree in political science from 2001 to 2012 at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. In addition to her studies, she worked as a part-time specialist saleswoman in a hardware store from 2002 to 2007. From 2005 to 2008, she also worked in the constituency office of Bundestag deputy Werner Dreibus. in 2018, she placed fourth with 8.8%.

After van Ooyen's resignation in 2014, Wissler became the sole parliamentary leader of her party in the Hessian Landtag. At the 2014 Left party congress, Wissler was elected one of six federal deputy leaders.

In the 2018 Hessian state election, Wissler was one of the party's lead candidates alongside . The party won 6.3%, its best result to date, and increased its parliamentary presence from six to nine members.

In January 2020, Wissler was among several politicians who received death threats from "NSU 2.0", a purported successor of neo-Nazi terrorist group the National Socialist Underground (NSU). The threats included confidential information taken from Frankfurt police computers. She was subject to further threats in July 2020. An investigation into a potential far-right extremist network operating within the Hessian police was subsequently launched by the state government.

In September 2020, Wissler announced her candidacy for the federal co-leadership of The Left. Prior to submitting her application, she resigned from and the Socialist Left, stating that it was customary for candidates to terminate their association with internal factions. Wissler was elected federal at a party conference on 27 February 2021, winning 84.2% of votes cast.

The Left won 4.9% of party list votes in the election, narrowly falling short of the 5% electoral threshold, but re-entered the Bundestag due to winning three direct constituencies. Wissler ran in the constituency of Frankfurt am Main I, winning 8.8% of votes and placing fifth. She was elected to the Bundestag in first place on the state party list.

After co-leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow resigned in April 2022, elections for both co-chairpersons were held at a party congress in June. Despite ongoing controversy due to election defeats and sexual abuse allegations within the party, Wissler announced her intention to seek re-election. She was elected in the first ballot with 319 votes (57.5%), but was challenged by several candidates, including Heidi Reichinnek, who won 199 votes (35.8%).

Political positions Wissler is considered a member of her party's left wing.

Wissler advocates the Germany's withdrawal from NATO and the alliance's dissolution. She opposes all military missions abroad, including those under a United Nations mandate, stating: "There are no 'humanitarian interventions'. Wars are never fought out of charity, but out of economic and political interests." She supports raising taxes on the rich to provide greater funding for public services. When asked what she believed the world would look like in fifty years, she stated: "I wish for a world in which the pursuit of profit does not come first and in which all people can live in peace and social security. If the enormous wealth that exists in the world were distributed fairly, no one would have to live in poverty. But to do that, you have to fundamentally change the balance of power and ownership."

In 2020, she stated that her party must stand up for justice, ecology, and peace at home and abroad, acting as a force that "supports concrete struggles and represents an anti-capitalist perspective".

Wissler is considered a pragmatic and effective parliamentarian. She was a key figure in the unsuccessful attempt to form a red–red–green coalition (R2G) government in Hesse after the 2008 election.

Sexual abuse in The Left Wissler was subject to scrutiny in 2022 after reports emerged of sexual abuse in the Hessian branch of The Left. In particular, she was accused of covering up alleged abuse committed in 2018 by her then-partner against an underage party member. Wissler claimed that she only learned about an affair between her partner and the alleged victim after the latter turned 18, and that she had heard no claims of abuse at the time. In April, the Wiesbaden public prosecutor stated that charges had been raised and subsequently dropped in three cases of abuse relating to the Hessian Left, with one case instead being pursued via a private suit.