An expected poor showing for Germany's hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party in European parliamentary elections will prompt further discussions about the future course of the party, leader Martin Schirdewan said on Sunday evening in Berlin.
Projected results from public broadcaster ARD showed The Left headed toward a historically bad result in the election, with just 2.7% to 2.8%.
The election comes after a bitter split in the Left Party, in which former leader Sahra Wagenknecht bolted to form her own populist party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
The BSW is projected to win between 5.7% and 6.1% of the vote.
"This is not a good result and therefore of course a bitter evening for us," Schirdewan said.
Schirdewan said the party failed to get through to voters with its main campaign, even though its message was linked to people's everyday concerns - wages, rents, price trends, redistribution from the top to the bottom, climate change and an anti-war peace policy.
"We will take a very, very close look at the questions we have to answer as a party," Schirdewan said.