This closes a circle: Oskar Lafontaine, who once left Schröder's SPD and later turned to the Left Party as a leader, now gives him the pass - while Schröder has to fear being expelled from the SPD.
But what does fear mean here?
Actually, both Schröder and Lafontaine were always self-sufficient.
The earth was allowed to revolve around them - to come to power and stay there.
They also achieved something, think of Agenda 2010 in the case of Schröder, but without or even against your own party.
For Lafontaine, who presents himself as an advocate for the little people, but who has also warned against "foreign workers", the Left Party has long since done its duty.
For those who are really in need, for those who are socially disadvantaged, for those who work very hard for very little money, there is a certain tragedy in finding hardly any credible interest groups on the left.
Lafontaine, once a beacon of hope for the SPD, gave up his ministerial post in a hurry, later regretted it, tried to crawl back into the party and then changed the flag.
Responsibility and straightforwardness look different - qualities that are very popular with the hard-working supposed "little man".
Both Lafontaine and Schröder see themselves as upstanding fighters, but they have long been successful, state-funded self-incorporated companies.
Country and people are less important to them.