Berlin.

In the left, a group around the former faction leader Sahra Wagenknecht calls for a realignment of the party.

"It must not go on as before, otherwise our party will disappear into insignificance," says the "Call for a Popular Left" of the German press agency available. The party must work for the majority of the population and must not "narrow down to certain milieus".

Even before the federal election, Wagenknecht had complained in her book "The Self-Righteous" that many "lifestyle "Leftists" lost their grip on reality and looked down on those who lived simpler or more traditional lives. Similar motives can now be heard in the three-page appeal, which, in addition to Wagenknecht, about 80 party members signed.

It states that the party must for the working people, families, pensioners and the socially disadvantaged. "It is our duty to reach out to the millions whose interests are being neglected and who are hoping for a betterment in their lives," it said. "We have a special responsibility for the east of the republic, for regions that have been left behind and shaken by structural crises."

"For whom do we make politics?"

The left should not teach from above. It should also be a peace party that consistently opposes rearmament. The call also distances itself from the "opportunistic striving for a co-government at the price of giving up left-wing goals."

"The central question is: for whom are we doing politics?" said the member of the Bundestag and co-signatory Christian Leye of the dpa. "Basically, for the left, its about bread and peace, that is, about social justice and the rejection of rearmament and war. Everything else is optional. We have to go back to our core competencies, with which we were once successful." The call is not a declaration of war and is not aimed at specific people. "This is our attempt to approach each other and help save the party."

The left is in crisis after a series of electoral defeats and internal disputes. She wants to re-elect her leader at a party conference at the end of June. Wagenknecht is one of the most prominent left-wing politicians, but is controversial because of the book, among other things. Some members had applied to be expelled from the party, but internal arbitration commissions rejected this.

The call is signed by, among others, co-group leader Amira Mohamed Ali, MPs Sevim Dagdelen and Andrej Hunko, peace activist Willi van Ooyen and publicist Luc Jochimsen. (dpa)