NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Die Linke

Die Linkspartei.PDS




Leader	Prof. Dr. Lothar Bisky

Founded	April 21, 1946 (SED) December 16, 1989 (SED/PDS) February 4, 1990 (PDS) July 17, 2005 (Die Linkspartei)
Headquarters	Kleine Alexanderstraße 28 D-10178 Berlin

Political Ideology	Democratic Socialism, Socialism
International Affiliation	none
European Affiliation	European Left
European Parliament Group	European United Left - Nordic Green Left
Colours	Red

Website	www.linkspartei.de

See also	Politics of Germany Political parties Elections Image File history File links Source and License License: {New logo since july 2005} From: http://www. ... Lothar Bisky (born 17 August 1941) is the chairman of the Left Party. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Democratic socialism is a broad political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the context of a democratic system. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... The European Left party is a political party at European level and an association of socialist and communist political parties in the European Union. ... The European United Leftâ€“Nordic Green Left is a socialist and communist political grouping within the European Parliament. ... Red is a color at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... The Federal Republic of Germany (in German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is a federal representative democracy. ... This is a list of political parties in Germany. ... Elections in Germany gives information on election and election results in Germany, including elections to the Federal Diet (the lower house of the federal parliament), the Landtage of the various states, and local elections. ...

The Left Party (In German: Die Linkspartei., officially with a period at the end), formerly Party of Democratic Socialism (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus, PDS) is a left-wing socialist political party in Germany. It is the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party (SED), which ruled the German Democratic Republic until 1990. It is competing in Germany's September 2005 federal elections in alliance with the western Germany-based Labor and Social Justice Party. A full stop or period, also called a full point, is the punctuation mark commonly placed at the end of several different types of sentences in English and several other languages. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... The logo of the SED The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, or SED) was the governing party of East Germany from its formation in 1949 until the elections of 1990. ... The German Democratic Republic (GDR) (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik), also commonly known as East Germany, was a communist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 38th German federal election was held on 18 September 2005 to elect members to the Bundestag (federal parliament) of Germany, following the unsuccessful motion of confidence in Gerhard SchrÃ¶der on 1 July. ... The Labor and Social Justice Party (German: Arbeit & soziale Gerechtigkeit – Die Wahlalternative or WASG) is a new German political party. ...

1 Background
2 In federal elections
3 Alliance with the WASG
4 In state and local government
5 Miscellaneous facts
6 Related articles
7 External links
8 Further reading

Background

The grassroots democracy movement that forced the dismissal of East German head of state Erich Honecker in 1989 also empowered a younger generation of reform politicians in the East German SED who looked to Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union as their model for political change. Reformers from the party's "third tier" rose to leadership, like authors Stefan Heym and Christa Wolf and human rights attorney Gregor Gysi, and by the end of 1989 the last hardline members of the party's Central Committee had resigned, followed by 95% of the SED's 2.3 million members. A new name, "Party of Democratic Socialism," was adopted to distance the reformed party from its communist past (after a brief transitory period as SED/PDS). By early 1990, the PDS was no longer a Marxist-Leninist party, though Marxist and communist minority factions continue to exist. Grassroots democracy is a political process which is driven by groups of ordinary citizens, as opposed to larger organisations or wealthy individuals with concentrated vested interests in particular policies. ... Erich Honecker â€“ official GDR portrait Erich Honecker (25 August 1912â€“29 May 1994) was a German Communist politician who led East Germany from 1971 until 1989. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (Gorbachev) listen? (Russian: ; pronunciation: ) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... Glasnost (Russian: Ð³Ð»Ð°ÌÑÐ½Ð¾ÑÑ‚ÑŒ, listen?) was one of Mikhail Gorbachevs policies introduced to the Soviet Union in 1985. ... Perestroika listen? (ÐŸÐµÑ€ÐµÑÑ‚Ñ€Ð¾ÌÐ¹ÐºÐ°) is the Russian word (which passed into English) for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ... Stefan Heym (April 10, 1913 - December 16, 2001 ) was a German - Jewish writer, who was born in Chemnitz and died in Israel. ... Christa Wolf (born March 18, 1929 in Landsberg an der Warthe, Germany (currently GorzÃ³w Wielkopolski, Poland) as Christa Ihlenfeld) is one of the best-known writers to emerge from the former East Germany. ... Gregor Gysi (born January 16, 1948) is a German politician nominally of Jewish origin and a key figure in the end of East German communist rule. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism (a form of Communism) and is a branch in its own right (it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ...

In federal elections

In the first all-German elections in 1990, the PDS won only 2.4% of the nationwide vote, but under a one-time exception to Germany's electoral law entered the Bundestag with 17 deputies led by Gysi, a charismatic and articulate politician. In the 1994 election, in spite of an anti-communist "Red Socks" campaign led by the then-ruling Christian Democrats aimed at scaring off eastern voters, the PDS increased its vote to 4.4 percent, won a plurality in four eastern districts, and re-entered the Bundestag with an enlarged caucus of 30 deputies. In 1998, the party reached the high-water mark in its fortunes by electing 37 deputies with 5.1% of the national vote, thus clearing the critical 5% threshold for guaranteed proportional representation and full parliamentary status. The party's future seemed bright, but it suffered from a number of weaknesses, not the least of which was its dependence on Gysi, considered by supporters and critics alike as a super-star in German politics who stood in stark contrast to a colorless general membership. Gysi's resignation in 2000 after losing a policy debate with party leftists soon spelled trouble for the PDS. In the 2002 election, the PDS vote sank back to 4.3%, and was able to seat only two deputies elected directly from their districts, Petra Pau and Gesine Lötzsch. Clearing neither of the electoral hurdles for entering Parliament (5% or three directly-elected deputies), the party lost its status as a parliamentary group, retaining just the two directly-elected deputies as its representatives in Parliament. The 34th German federal election, 1990 was conducted on December 2, 1990, to elect members to the Bundestag (lower house) of Germany. ... The Bundestag (Federal Diet) is the parliament of Germany. ... The 35th German federal election, 1994 was conducted on October 16, 1994, to elect members to the Bundestag (lower house) of Germany. ... The Christian Democratic Union (CDU - Christlich-Demokratische Union) is a political party in Germany. ... The 37th German federal election, 2002 was conducted on September 22, 2002, to elect members to the Bundestag (lower house) of Germany. ... Petra Pau (born 9 August 1963) is one of two members of the Party of Democratic Socialism in the German parliament, the Bundestag. ... Gesine LÃ¶tzsch (born 7 August 1961) is a German socialist politician. ...

After the 2002 debacle, the PDS adopted a new program and re-installed a respected moderate, long-time Gysi ally Lothar Bisky, as chair. A renewed sense of self-confidence soon re-energized the party. In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, the PDS won 6.1% of the vote nationwide, its highest total in a federal election. Its strength in the eastern German states continued to grow, where today it competes with the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats for first place. However, its low membership and voter support in western states continued to plague the party on the national level until it formed an electoral alliance with the Labor and Social Justice Party (WASG), a left group formed by dissident Social Democrats. Lothar Bisky (born 17 August 1941) is the chairman of the Left Party. ... The Christian Democratic Union (CDU - Christlich-Demokratische Union) is a political party in Germany. ... The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD â€“ Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) is one of the oldest political parties of Germany still in existence and also one of the oldest and largest in the world, celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2003. ... The Labor and Social Justice Party (German: Arbeit & soziale Gerechtigkeit – Die Wahlalternative or WASG) is a new German political party. ...

Alliance with the WASG

Election campaign 2005

In July, 2005, the PDS and the WASG agreed on terms for a combined ticket for the 2005 federal elections and pledged to unify the two parties in 2006 or 2007. According to the pact, the parties will not compete against each another in any district. WASG candidates, including the charismatic former Social Democratic leader, Oskar Lafontaine, will stand on the PDS electoral list. To symbolize the new relationship, the PDS changed its name to Left Party.PDS or The Left.PDS, with the letters "PDS" optional in western states. The alliance provides a strong electoral base in the east and benefits from WASG's growing voter potential in the west. Gregor Gysi has returned to public life and will share the spotlight with Lafontaine as co-leader of the Left Party caucus in the German Bundestag after the election. Polls show the unifed Left Party competing with the German Greens and the pro-business Free Democratic Party for the role of third-strongest party in the Bundestag. Alarmed by the Left's unexpected rise in the polls, Germany's mainstream politicians are describing Lafontaine and Gysi as "left populists" and "demagogues," and accuse the party of making unfulfillable promises. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2953x1945, 2744 KB) Description: Election campaign of the Linkspartei in Germany, 2005 Source: photo taken by Barbara MÃ¼rdter Date: August 2005 Author: Barbara MÃ¼rdter Permission: Barbara MÃ¼rdter put it under the CC-BY-SA Other versions of this... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2953x1945, 2744 KB) Description: Election campaign of the Linkspartei in Germany, 2005 Source: photo taken by Barbara MÃ¼rdter Date: August 2005 Author: Barbara MÃ¼rdter Permission: Barbara MÃ¼rdter put it under the CC-BY-SA Other versions of this... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 38th German federal election was held on 18 September 2005 to elect members to the Bundestag (federal parliament) of Germany, following the unsuccessful motion of confidence in Gerhard SchrÃ¶der on 1 July. ... Oskar Lafontaine (born September 16, 1943) is a left-wing German politician who was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) until May 24, 2005 when he quit the party. ... The Bundestag (Federal Diet) is the parliament of Germany. ... Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (literally: Alliance 90/The Greens), the German Green Party, is a political party in Germany whose regional predecessors were founded in the late 1970s as part of the new social movements. ... Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | German political parties | Liberal parties ...

In state and local government

The Left Party is the Social Democratic Party's junior partner in the coalition governments of two German states, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the capital Berlin. Co-governing with the SPD has burnished the Left's reputation as a pragmatic, rather than ideological party. It remains strong in local government in eastern Germany, with more than 6,500 town councillors and 64 elected mayors. The party continues to win eastern voters by emphasizing political competence, but also profits from growing dissatisfaction with high unemployment and cutbacks in health insurance, unemployment benefits, and workers' rights. The party has a youth wing, known as 'solid - die sozialistische jugend. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD â€“ Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) is one of the oldest political parties of Germany still in existence and also one of the oldest and largest in the world, celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2003. ... Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (German: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a Bundesland (federal state) in northern Germany. ... Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California during the Great Depression. ... Health insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the insured if the insured becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a group of workers who act collectively to address common issues. ... [solid] - die sozialistische jugend is a political youth organization in Germany. ...

Miscellaneous facts

The Left Party is a co-founder of the European Left alliance of parties. In the European Parliament, it is the largest party in the European United Left/Nordic Green Left parliamentary group.
Besides Lafontaine, a number of other prominent SPD defectors are standing for the Bundestag on the Left Party list, including the leader of Germany's Turkish minority, Hakkı Keskin, and German Supreme Court justice Wolfgang Nesković.
Two of the Left Party's leaders, Gregor Gysi and Lothar Bisky, are Jewish. Lafontaine is Roman Catholic, and the party's election manager, Bodo Ramelow, is Protestant.
The party supports expanding partnership rights for same-sex couples and advocates elimination of Germany's tax on beer.
A Left Party Member of the European Parliament, Feleknas Uca, was the world's only elected Yezidi politician until three were elected to the Iraqi legislature in 2005.
For the European Parliament election, 2004, the Englishman Keith Barlow, living in Leipzig, was a PDS candidate.

The European Left party is a political party at European level and an association of socialist and communist political parties in the European Union. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... The European United Left–Nordic Green Left is a socialist and communist political grouping within the European Parliament. ... Gregor Gysi (born January 16, 1948) is a German politician nominally of Jewish origin and a key figure in the end of East German communist rule. ... Feleknas Uca is a member of the European Parliament for the far-left German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). ... Malak Taâ€™us The Yazidi or Yezidi (Kurdish; ÃŠzidÃ®) are adherents of a small Middle Eastern religion with ancient origins. ... Map of Germany showing Leipzig Leipzig? [ËˆlaiptsÉªÃ§] (Polish; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ...

Politics of Germany
List of political parties in Germany
Bundestag (Federal Assembly of Germany)

The Federal Republic of Germany (in German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is a federal representative democracy. ... This is a list of political parties in Germany. ... The Bundestag (Federal Diet) is the parliament of Germany. ...

External links

Left Party website in German
Left Party newsletter in English
2005 Left Party platform in English
Left Party on the rise in Germany

Contents

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