Germany’s populist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) party, founded by the former far-left leader of the same name, is campaigning in next year’s federal elections with a program of social measures such as rent freezes and increase in pensions.

The party, which combines traditional left-wing social policies with an anti-migrant stance and pro-Russian leanings, also demands “honest ceasefire efforts” on the war in Ukraine and an end to arms deliveries Germans, according to an eight-page electoral document. manifesto seen by dpa.

Germany is set to go to the polls on February 23, following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left governing coalition.

The parties presented their election programs after the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, withdrew its confidence in Scholz on Monday, in an orchestrated move towards early elections.

The BSW wants to freeze rent increases until 2030 in all regions “where the housing market has clearly outpaced incomes”.

The housing shortage is a pressing problem in many German cities, where few new homes are being built. Rents will increase by 4% in 2024, according to a recent analysis by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).

The party is also seeking to overturn controversial laws aimed at transitioning the country to renewable heating sources and banning combustion car engines.

He wants asylum seekers to be housed in safe countries outside the European Union while their applications are processed.

Wagenknecht’s party, founded in January, opposes further expansion of the EU and also excludes Ukraine’s membership.

The new party, which recently entered government in two Länder in eastern Germany, obtained a rate of 5% in the polls, the threshold for entering the Bundestag.