Labour and Social Justice - The Electoral Alternative (German: Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit – Die Wahlalternative or WASG) is a German political party founded in 2005 by activists disenchanted with the Social Democratic-Green government. It currently (as of October 2005) has 11,000 members, and ran for the first time in the 2005 state election of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state and a stronghold of the SPD, with pastor Jürgen Klute as its front-runner. It is organizing in all parts of Germany and plans to stand for the September 2005 federal election. The party is campaigning against what it considers "the neoliberal consensus" displayed by the governing centre-left political parties and the more conservative opposition alike. Some of its main issues are opposition to cuts in social benefits and to the favourable taxation of the wealthy. In the first few months of existence, it has received a large amount of news coverage, and had its first national convention on 6-8 May 2005. This is a list of political parties in Germany. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... SPD redirects here. ... 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. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in October 28: Richard Smalley 26: Emil Kyulev 24: José Azcona del Hoyo 24: Rosa Parks 23: Stella Obasanjo 22: Liam Lawlor 22: Shirley Horn 20: Endon Mahmood 17: Ba Jin 10: Milton Obote 7: Charles... The North Rhine-Westphalia state election, 2005, was conducted on May 22, 2005, to elect members to the Landtag (state legislature) of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, short: NRW) is the largest in population (though only fourth in area) among Germanys 16 federal states. ... Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands in German) Serial Presence Detect of computer memory modules Categories: Disambiguation ... Jürgen Klute is an Evangelical pastor and the head of the office of social ministry of the Lutheran diocese of Herne. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by encouraging free... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Oskar Lafontaine, a former major figure of the SPD's left, joined the new party officially on 18 June, 2005, and became their North Rhine-Westphalia frontrunner for the general election on September 18, after advocating also the electoral alliance with the PDS which the WASG and PDS leaderships in principle agreed to on 10 June, 2005. 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. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, short: NRW) is the largest in population (though only fourth in area) among Germanys 16 federal states. ... A general election is an election in which all members of a given political body are up for election. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... Party of Democratic Socialism is a political party in India; see Party of Democratic Socialism (India) the former name of a German political party; see Left Party (Germany). ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ...

Programmatic orientation

The draft programmatic orientation is strongly influenced by the memorandums of the Working group for Alternative Economical Politics which counts one of the party's leading figures, economist Axel Troost, among its members. The programme pleads for a policy that strenghtens domestic demand and centres around social justice; part of the programme is the return to a more progressive taxation. First and foremost, the tax breaks for large corporations and high incomes introduced by the SPD-Green coalition federal government starting from 1999 would have to be reverted and the federal tax on assets, which had ceased in 1997, reintroduced. The draft programme would have to be discussed until the spring 2005. Look up Memorandum on Wiktionary, the free dictionary A memorandum is a written form of communication most often employed in business environments. ... Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• Programm für eine bessere Zukunft (Programme for a better future), in German

Historical accounts

Pre-history/Association WASG

The party emerged from the association "Wahlalternative Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit e. V." which had been founded on July 3, 2004. The association itself had started as the merger of the groups Initiative Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit (mainly by Bavarian union representatives) and the Wahlalternative ("Electoral Alternative", founded by people in Northern and Western Germany). Both groups had been founded in reaction to the government politics as laid down in the Agenda 2010 programme of the governing "Red-Green" coalition, which they consider as too neoliberal. The first meeting of the Wahlalternative' took place on 5 March, 2004 in the Berlin headquarters of the Federation of German Trade Unions (DGB). July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Agenda 2010 is a series of reforms planned and executed by the German government which they say will modernise the German social system and labour market. ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by encouraging free... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... This article is about the city in Germany. ...

The association had 4,056 members on 11 September 2004, the number rising to over 6,000 members shortly before Christmas 2004. The first organisation in one of the states was founded on 17 July, 2004 in the Saarland; the first covention in North-Rhine Westphalia took place on 17 October 2004, and it was decided to take part in the 2005 regional elections in that state in spite of the party's unclear financial situation. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany. ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, short: NRW) is the largest in population (though only fourth in area) among Germanys 16 federal states. ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The association WAsG e. V., the party's "birthplace", continues to exists along with the party; its future purpose has still not been determined. It may be transferred into a political foundation similar to the ones kept by other (German) political parties.

News coverage

The nascent party drew attention in the mass media because the foundation of a new leftist party might lead to a schism of the SPD. Forerunners to such a development were the secession of the "Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands" (USPD) during World War I, the foundation of the leftist Greens (although these were not founded by disaffected SPD members) in the late 1970s, and the Demokratische Sozialisten (DS) founded by Karl-Heinz Hansen und Manfred Coppik in the early 1980s. USPD election poster, 1919 The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, or USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the Second Reich and the Weimar Republic. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas. ... 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. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989, however in a pop cultural sense The Eighties sometimes includes at least some aspects of 1979 and 1990, or more or less the era between the end of the Disco era of the 1970s and...

Foundation

The federal assembly in Nuremberg of the association WAsG e. V. (20 and 21 November 2004) decided to found a party, something that had never been ruled out as a possible outcome by members of the provisional leadership. After the strike vote among members in December 2004, the party was officially founded on 22 January 2005 in Göttingen. The party's name came into being as Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit – Die Wahlalternative (the acronym ASG later had to be changed to WASG, due to a lawsuit). The party will take part in the German general election in 2005; it hopes to attract disaffected voters and nonvoters alike by offering them a real electoral alternative. Hl. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Landmark Gänseliesel fountain at the main market Göttingen ( â–¶) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

Internal conflicts

There is a lot of controversy about the new party's political orientation among its members. While some would like to establish it as a purely leftist party of socialist inclination, many others, especially union representatives and ex-SPD-members, aim to provide a home also for social conservatives and religious people who believe in a strong welfare state. The argument escalated in February 2005 (shortly after the party's foundation) but could be soothed through a compromise that was satisfactory for everyone. The compromise calls for a strict accord with welfare state orientation without excluding more socialist-minded members from the party.

Regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia

The party decided to take part in the regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, on 22 May 2005. Eligibility was ensured in all regional counties, and pastor Jürgen Klute of Herne was the leading candidate of a 40-person-ticket. May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jürgen Klute is an Evangelical pastor and the head of the office of social ministry of the Lutheran diocese of Herne. ... Herne is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

In this regional election the WASG reached 2.2% of the votes cast (approximately 182,000 votes).

Lawsuit against the acronym ASG

According to a decision made by the District Court of Düsseldorf, the party was no longer allowed to officially use its acronym "ASG". The party had been sued by the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialpädagogik und Gesellschaftsbild (ASG)". As a result the acronym "WASG" has been unofficially adopted (with an equally unofficial slight reordering of the words in its name to fit the new abbreviation).

Electoral alliance with the PDS

After the crushing defeat of his SPD in the regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Federal Chancellor Schröder had declared the intention of going for a general election as soon as possible, avoiding the completion of the regular term (which was to run until September 2006) by the device of failing a Motion of Confidence vote, which took place on 1 July, 2005. However, there are major constitutional issues which are to be settled by the German Constitutional Court. Because of the German constitution, which incorporated lessons learned from the failed Weimar Republic, the German parliament cannot dissolve itself or be dissolved by a political representative ahead of schedule, except under very rare circumstances. A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a parliament or other assembly of elected representatives to give members of parliament (or other such assembly) a chance to register their confidence in a government. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... A Constitutional Court is a high court found in many countries which deals primary with constitutional law. ... The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of modern Germany. ... The period of German history from 1919 to 1933 is known as the Weimar Republic (IPA , German Weimarer Republik). ...

While the WASG had hoped to gain a large enough membership and to raise enough money for an election campaign by the originally scheduled election date (some time in September 2006), it was now faced with the difficulty of an early election one year ahead of schedule (occurring on the date of 18 September, 2005). Polls predicted an election result of at most 3% for the new party, well below the electoral threshold of 5%. In that situation, the idea of an electoral coalition with the PDS, jointly led by Oskar Lafontaine and Gregor Gysi, was put forward by Oskar Lafontaine. September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... Party of Democratic Socialism is a political party in India; see Party of Democratic Socialism (India) the former name of a German political party; see Left Party (Germany). ... 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. ... Gregor Gysi Gregor Gysi (born January 16, 1948) is a German politician of the Left Party. ...

On 10 June 2005, the leaderships of WASG and the PDS agreed to form an electoral alliance for the then-upcoming federal elections in September, 2005. According to the agreement, the parties will not compete against one another in any district and will have a joint manifesto. This was intended to benefit both parties, because the WASG is based primarily in western Germany, while the PDS, which is the successor to the East German Socialist Unity Party (SED), is strongest in the East. Oskar Lafontaine, the former chairman of the incumbent Social Democratic Party, was the the WASG's lead candidate. June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... German federal elections took place on September 18, 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. ... September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a socialist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... 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. ...

After a multitude of initial problems due to the somewhat restrictive German electoral law, the PDS re-christened itself as "Die Linkspartei." (The Left Party) and will appear on the ballot as either "Die Linkspartei.PDS" (in the Eastern Länder) or "Die Linkspartei." (in the Western Länder) in line with the WASG's wishes. WASG candidates appear on those electoral lists. The Left Party (In German: , 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. ...

As of 5 July 2005, the coalition was on 30% in the polls in the East (level with the CDU there), and 11% nationally. [1] July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ...

External links

• Homepage of the WASG, in German
• Homepage of the association Wahlalternative Arbeit & soziale Gerechtigkeit e.V., in German
• Working group for Alternative Economical Politics (Memorandum-Gruppe), in German
• Homepage of the WASG in North Rhine-Westphalia, in German
• Homepage of the front-runner for the German regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2005, pastor Jürgen Klute, in German