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102-480: Maximilian Becker is a German economist and politician who is a member of Die Linke (The Left). Maximilian Becker studied business, economics and corporate law. Maximilian Becker was member of the board of The Left Saxony . The former parliamentary group leader of the Left, Sahra Wagenknecht , spoke again and again in 2021 of the "pandemic of the vaccinated". From the point of view of many party members, she took over
204-577: A nomenklatura member and obtained a social science degree by 1967. Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of posts in the SED and the communist government. He was leader of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation from 1971 to 1974, and became a member of the central committee of the party in 1973. He was also a member of the Volkskammer (East Germany's legislature) from 1971 to 1990, and
306-465: A Bundestag speech in September, Wagenknecht attacked the federal government for launching what she called "an unprecedented economic war against our most important energy supplier," and called for the end of sanctions against Russia. The speech was boycotted by half The Left's deputies, and prompted numerous calls for her resignation by colleagues. Hundreds of members were reported to have left the party over
408-554: A breakthrough in the west with 8.3%. It was the most popular party in Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg, and won sixteen direct constituencies, the largest tally by a minor party in history. The Left nonetheless remained in opposition. The Left won seats in the parliament of Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia , in the May 2010 election . They now held seats in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states, only absent from three states in
510-622: A comeback to the Landtags of Schleswig-Holstein , North Rhine-Westphalia , and Lower Saxony , despite making gains in all three states. The party's slow decline in Saarland continued, winning 12.8% in March. In 2018, they defended their seats in Hesse . Kipping and Riexinger were re-elected for a third time at the party congress in 2018, winning 64.5% and 73.8% respectively. The Left had mixed results in 2019. In
612-519: A formal merger of the PDS and WASG continued through the next year until a final agreement was reached on 27 March 2007. The new party, called The Left ( Die Linke ), held its founding congress in Berlin on 16 June 2007. Lothar Bisky and Oskar Lafontaine were elected as co-leaders, while Gregor Gysi became leader of the party's Bundestag group. The unified party quickly became a serious force in western Germany for
714-525: A group of reformers who supported the Peaceful Revolution . His ally Hans Modrow , the new Chairman of the Council of Ministers, became the de facto national leader. Seeking to change its image, the party expelled most of its former leadership, including Honecker and Krenz; the new government negotiated with opposition groups and arranged free elections. By the time of a special congress in mid-December,
816-519: A junior partner under the SPD. The 2014 Thuringian state election was the party's biggest success to date, achieving not only its best state election result (28.2%) but also forming the first coalition with one of its own members at the head. The party was able to negotiate a red-red-green coalition with the SPD and Greens, and Bodo Ramelow was elected Minister-President by the Landtag of Thuringia , becoming
918-549: A left-wing coalition fell a few seats short of a majority in the Bundestag . State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were held on the same day. The Left suffered minor losses in both, but nonetheless joined coalition governments in each state. In Berlin, they joined a renewed coalition with the SPD and Greens. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, they replaced the CDU as junior partner to
1020-536: A major change, in truth the draft made only cosmetic changes to Honecker-era rules. While state offices were supposed to approve applications "quickly", it actually took up to 30 days to process applications for ordinary travel abroad and up to six months for emigration. Not only could applications be denied for the usual reasons (national security, public order, public health, public morals, etc.) but it made no guarantee that people travelling abroad would get access to foreign currency. The draft enraged ordinary citizens, and
1122-727: A member of its presidium from 1971 to 1981. Between 1974 and 1983, he was leader of the communist youth movement, the Free German Youth . From 1981 to 1984 he was a member of the Council of State . In 1983, he joined the Politburo and became the Secretary for Security, Youth and Sport in the Central Committee; the same position Honecker had held before becoming General Secretary. He rose to supreme prominence when he became Honecker's deputy on
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#17328511647261224-544: A modest showing of 2.2% in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election in May, but failed to win seats. The election saw the incumbent SPD government defeated in a landslide, which was widely interpreted as a sign of the federal SPD's unpopularity. Chancellor Schröder subsequently called an early federal election to be held in September. WASG continued to gain members, prompting the PDS leadership to propose an alliance between
1326-637: A strongly pro-Ukrainian stance, while the faction around Sahra Wagenknecht opposed sanctions against Russia. At the party congress in June, incumbent Janine Wissler was re-elected as leader, while co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) group Martin Schirdewan was elected as Hennig-Wellsow's successor. They both faced challenges from candidates aligned with Wagenknecht's faction, winning majorities of 57% and 61% of votes respectively. During
1428-581: A town on the Baltic Sea coast in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern . Unlike other high-ranking former members of the SED, such as Günter Schabowski and Günther Kleiber , Krenz still defends the former East Germany and maintains he has not changed his political views. Krenz is fluent in Russian and has praised Russian president Vladimir Putin , saying "After weak presidents like Gorbachev and Yeltsin , it
1530-414: A transitional phase after its formation in 2007 in order to integrate the different groups. Western party organisations were initially strongly favoured in party congresses, which strengthened the "fundamental opposition" faction of Oskar Lafontaine . These provisions expired at the 2014 party congress. The dual leadership, initially a temporary measure, was adopted permanently in 2010. This was not initially
1632-654: A vision, are not to be implemented as soon as possible, and should not be seen as inflexible preconditions for a federal, left-wing red–red–green coalition . In their manifesto, the party says: "All support for NATO states which, like Erdoğan 's Turkey, disregard international law, must be stopped immediately." The Left criticised Germany's defense plan with Saudi Arabia, which has been waging war in Yemen and has been accused of massive human rights violations. The Left supports further debt cancellations for developing countries and increases in development aid, in collaboration with
1734-408: Is a perennial issue, as The Left believes that they primarily benefit people with high incomes. The party aims for the financial markets to be subject to heavier government regulation, with the goal, among others, to reduce the speculation of bonds and derivatives. The party wants to strengthen anti-trust laws and empower cooperatives to decentralise the economy. Further economic reforms supported by
1836-478: Is avenging itself on the representatives of the defeated power" ( Die siegreiche Macht rächt sich an den Vertretern der besiegten Macht ). Krenz began serving his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison shortly thereafter, working in the prison laundry. He was later transferred to Plötzensee Prison , a prison with stricter rules, where he worked in the prison laundry and as an inmate orderly. Krenz's application to
1938-504: Is generally considered a left-wing , big tent party. This party is sometimes considered part of the German " centre-left " camp. It has been described as " far-left " by journalists in some news outlets including the BBC , Euronews , The Guardian , and Der Spiegel , and is considered to be left-wing populist by some researchers. The Left aims at increasing government spending in
2040-562: Is neutral on European integration . In late 2023, prominent member Sahra Wagenknecht and several supporters split from the party and formed Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht , resulting in the dissolution of The Left's official faction in the Bundestag. The main predecessor of The Left was the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which emerged from the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) of East Germany (GDR). In October 1989, facing increasing unpopularity,
2142-534: Is represented in eight of Germany's sixteen state legislatures, including all five of the eastern states . As of 2021, the party participates in governments in the states of Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a junior partner, as well as in Thuringia , where it leads a coalition with the Social Democratic Party and The Greens headed by Minister-President Bodo Ramelow . The Left is a founding member of
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#17328511647262244-417: The 1998 German federal election it won 5.1% of votes, enough to win seats outright without relying on direct constituencies as it had in 1994. By the 2000s, it was the second-largest party in every eastern state legislature except Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Despite electoral successes, the PDS faced internal strife due to ideological disputes, a chronic decline in membership, and a near-complete lack of support in
2346-423: The 2005 federal election , the Left.PDS easily passed the electoral threshold, winning 8.7% of the vote and 53 seats. It became the fourth largest party in the Bundestag. The result of the election was inconclusive; between the SPD, Greens, and Left.PDS, left-wing parties held a majority, but the SPD was unwilling to cooperate with the Left.PDS. The result was a grand coalition of the CDU and SPD. Negotiations for
2448-456: The 2021 German federal election , The Left was eager to become a partner in a coalition government with the SPD and Greens. As the CDU/CSU collapsed in the polls and the SPD surged, the last month of the campaign saw the conservative government engage in a Red Scare campaign against The Left and the prospect of a red–red–green coalition , utilising red-baiting and fearmongering about extremism;
2550-488: The 2023 Hessian state election , The Left were wiped out after achieving 3.1% of the vote, thus losing their 9 seats due to falling short of the 5% threshold needed for representation. In October 2023, Wagenknecht and nine other Bundestag members, including faction co-leader Amira Mohamed Ali , announced their intention to leave The Left and launch the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance . This pushed The Left below
2652-462: The Bundeswehr outside of Germany. The party calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany, as well as the replacement of NATO with a collective security system including Russia as a member country. They believe that German foreign policy should be strictly confined to the goals of civil diplomacy and cooperation, instead of confrontation, though they also believe that such demands are more of
2754-444: The CDU , but immediately resigned due to widespread outrage. After a protracted government crisis , Ramelow was re-elected for a second term to lead a minority government. In August 2020, Kipping and Riexinger announced they would step down as co-chairs in accordance with party regulations stating that no position should be held by the same person for more than eight years. A party congress
2856-615: The Communist regime 's grip on power. The SED gave up its monopoly of power some weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Krenz was forced to resign shortly afterward. He was expelled from the SED's successor party on 21 January 1990. In 2000, he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for manslaughter for his role in the Communist regime. After his release from prison in 2003, he retired to
2958-599: The European election , they declined to 5.5%, the worst result in a national election since the party's formation. In the Bremen state election held on the same day, the party made small gains, and joined a western state government for the first time in a coalition under the SPD and Greens. The Left suffered major losses in the Brandenburg and Saxony state elections held on 1 September, losing almost half its voteshare in each, and left
3060-634: The Left Party (German: Die Linkspartei [diː ˈlɪŋkspaʁˌtaɪ] ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany . The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative . Through the PDS, the party is the direct descendant of the Marxist–Leninist ruling party of former East Germany ,
3162-652: The National Front . The new CDU Presidium, under the leadership of Lothar de Maizière , also demanded the resignation of Krenz as chairman of the Council of State and Chairman of the National Defense Council. On 1 December, the Volkskammer significantly amended the East German constitution to purge it of its Communist character. Most notably, Article One, which declared East Germany to be a socialist state under
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3264-657: The Party of the European Left , and is the third-largest party in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament . In December 2022, The Left had 54,214 registered members, making it the sixth-largest party in Germany by membership, this decreased further to 50,251 members in December 2023. The Left promotes left-wing populism , anti-fascism and anti-militarism , and
3366-603: The Revolutions of 1989 . He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) but was forced to resign only weeks later when the Berlin Wall fell. Throughout his career, Krenz held a number of prominent positions in the SED. He was Honecker's deputy from 1984 until he succeeded him in 1989 amid protests against the regime. Krenz was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain
3468-536: The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Since October 2024, The Left's co- chairpersons have been Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken . The party holds 28 seats out of 736 in the Bundestag , the federal legislature of Germany, having won 4.9% of votes cast in the 2021 German federal election . Its parliamentary group is the second-smallest of seven in the Bundestag, and is headed by parliamentary co-leaders Heidi Reichinnek and Sören Pellmann . The Left
3570-669: The United Nations , World Trade Organization , World Bank , and diverse bilateral treaties among countries. The party supports reform of the United Nations as long as it is aimed at a fair balance between developed and developing countries. The Left would have all American military bases within Germany, and if possible in the European Union , enacted within a binding treaty, dissolved. The Left welcomes European integration , while opposing what it believes to be neoliberal policies in
3672-565: The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the Russian military intervention in Ukraine to be illegal; however, Gysi commented that older elements of the party have a strong penchant for Russia and the Soviet Union . The party declared in May 2014 that Ukraine should not receive any kind of support from Germany as long as there are fascists inside its government. Some members of
3774-602: The mass repatriations and expulsions of Germans from Poland at the end of World War II . Trained as a teacher and working as a journalist early in his career, Krenz joined the Free German Youth (FDJ) in 1953, as a teenager and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1955. After serving in the Volksarmee from 1959 to 1961, he rejoined the FDJ. He studied at a prestigious Communist Party staff school in Moscow for three years, became
3876-539: The 5% electoral threshold . The party was nonetheless entitled to full proportional representation as it won three direct constituencies ; two in Berlin and one in Leipzig . This meant a net loss of 4.3 percentage points of vote share and 30 seats overall. Notably, Vice President of the Bundestag Petra Pau was defeated in her direct constituency of Berlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf . Due to The Left's poor performance,
3978-511: The Brandenburg government, in which they had participated since 2009. In the 2019 Thuringian state election , Ramelow led the party to its best ever result, winning 31.0% and becoming the largest party in a state legislature for the first time, though his red-red-green government lost its majority. In February 2020, the FDP's Thomas Kemmerich was elected Minister-President with the support of AfD and
4080-518: The Bundestag. During the campaign, the party was subject to frequent criticism. At one event, Oskar Lafontaine described Fremdarbeiter ("foreign workers", a term associated with the Nazi regime) as a threat to German labour. He claimed to have misspoken, but in an article published in Die Welt , a group of prominent German writers accused him of deliberately appealing to xenophobic and far-right voters. In
4182-543: The Council of State in 1984. Around the same time, he replaced Paul Verner as the unofficial number-two man in the SED leadership, thus making him the second-most powerful man in the country. Although he was the youngest member of the Politburo (and indeed, one of only two people elevated to full membership in that body from 1976 to 1984), speculation abounded that Honecker had tapped him as his heir apparent. Following popular protests against East Germany's communist government,
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4284-656: The European Court of Human Rights on alleged misuse of East German criminal laws reached the Grand Chamber, but was rejected in 2001. He was released from prison in December 2003 after serving nearly four years of his sentence, and quietly retired with his wife Erika (1939–2017) to Dierhagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006. Krenz currently lives in Dierhagen ,
4386-726: The European Union. The party strives for the democratisation of the EU institutions and a stronger role of the United Nations in international politics. The Left opposed both the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War , as well as the Lisbon Treaty . The party has a mixed stance towards the Russo-Ukrainian War . Gregor Gysi has described Russia as state capitalist , and the party has called
4488-477: The FDP, they moved into third place. After the formation of a second grand coalition between the CDU and SPD, The Left became the leading party of the opposition. The party narrowly retained its seats in the Hessian state election held on the same day as the federal election. The Left suffered a major loss in Brandenburg in 2014, losing a third of its voteshare and falling to third place. Nonetheless, it continued as
4590-528: The Hesse branch, including claims that implicated Janine Wissler. In April, Susanne Hennig-Wellsow resigned as co-leader, citing the party's recent troubles and desire to spend more time with family. Further losses came in the Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia state elections in May. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted fault lines within the party. The leadership and majority took
4692-588: The Left to support Gauck in the decisive third round of the election; however, after Jochimsen withdrew, most of the Left's delegates abstained. Wulff was elected by an absolute majority. The party was isolated ahead of the March 2012 presidential election . The federal CDU/CSU–FDP government invited the SPD and Greens to agree on an all-party consensus candidate; The Left was excluded. Those invited eventually agreed to support Joachim Gauck. The Left again refused to support him. SPD chair Sigmar Gabriel once again criticized
4794-551: The Left to support their candidate for the 2010 presidential election , former Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records Joachim Gauck . They suggested that this was an opportunity for the Left to leave their communist past behind them and show unconditional support for democracy. However, the party refused to support him, highlighting his support of the War in Afghanistan and his attacks on their party. They also rejected
4896-416: The SED Politburo voted to remove Honecker on 18 October 1989, and Krenz was elected as the new General Secretary of the SED Central Committee . Krenz had been approached several months earlier about ousting Honecker, but was reluctant to move against a man he called "my foster father and political teacher". He was initially willing to wait until the seriously ill Honecker died, but by October was convinced that
4998-463: The SED abandoned power and allowed free elections—something that Krenz was unwilling to concede. This was not the only evidence that Krenz did not intend to truly open up the regime. While publicly discussing such reforms as loosening travel restrictions, he also personally ordered the rejection of the dissident group New Forum 's application to become an approved organisation. Ahead of the large Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November, he ordered
5100-414: The SED replaced long-time leader Erich Honecker with Egon Krenz , who began a program of limited reforms, including the legalisation of opposition groups. He also loosened restrictions on travel between East and West Berlin, which inadvertently led to the fall of the Berlin Wall . The SED gave up its " leading role " in November, and Krenz resigned soon afterward. He was succeeded by Gregor Gysi , part of
5202-413: The SED was no longer a Marxist-Leninist party. It added Party of Democratic Socialism to its name, dropping the SED portion in February. The PDS oriented itself as pro-democratic, socialist, and supportive of East German sovereignty. The party chose Modrow as its lead candidate for the 1990 East German general election but was decisively defeated, finishing in third place with 16.4% of votes cast. The PDS
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#17328511647265304-412: The SPD after the North Rhine-Westphalia election, joined WASG in June. He was chosen as the party's lead candidate for the federal election and shared the spotlight with Gregor Gysi of the PDS. Polls early in the summer showed the unified Left list winning as much as 12 percent of the vote, and for a time it seemed possible the party would surge past the Greens and FDP and become the third-largest party in
5406-406: The SPD. After the federal election, The Left suffered internal strife and its fortunes continued to decline. A major blow came in the March 2022 Saarland state election , with the party losing all their seats amid conflict between the state leadership and Oskar Lafontaine , who declined to run again and quit the party shortly before the election. Further, reports of sexism and abuse arose within
5508-559: The Stasi to prevent any unauthorised attempt to cross the border by "bodily violence". On 7 November, Krenz approved the resignation of Prime Minister Willi Stoph and his entire cabinet along with two-thirds of the Politburo. However, the Central Committee unanimously re-elected Krenz to the position of General Secretary. In a speech, Krenz attempted a reckoning with history, which also criticised his political mentor Honecker. Yet, by this stage, events were rapidly spiralling out of his control. Despite promises of reform, public opposition to
5610-448: The areas of public investments, education, research and development, culture, and infrastructure, as well as increasing taxes for large corporations . It calls for increases in inheritance tax rates and the reinstatement of the individual net worth tax. The party aims at a linear income tax progression, which would reduce the tax burden for lower incomes, while raising the middle- and top-income tax rates. The combating of tax loopholes
5712-464: The case for the parliamentary group leadership, which was co-chaired by both Gregor Gysi and Lafontaine between 2005 and 2009, and solely by Gysi thereafter. After his retirement in 2015, however, the dual chairmanship was reintroduced. The executive committee originally comprised 44 members, but was reduced to 26 at the 2022 party congress. The Left is noted for having an unusually strong and formalised system of internal factions, which are outlined in
5814-450: The conservative Christian Wulff , favourite of Chancellor Angela Merkel , instead putting forward their own nominee, television journalist Luc Jochimsen . The red-green camp reacted with disappointment. SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel described The Left's position as "bizarre and embarrassing," stating that he was shocked that they would declare Joachim Gauck their enemy due to his investigation of GDR injustice. The SPD and Greens expected
5916-419: The crowds pass into West Berlin. The fall of the Berlin Wall destroyed Krenz and the SED politically. On 18 November, Krenz swore in a new coalition government. Instead of an oath, it consisted of a simple handshake. However, it was obvious that the SED was living on borrowed time. The CDU and the LDPD , long subservient to the SED, threw out their pro-Communist leaderships and announced that they were leaving
6018-436: The density of membership, can include a residential area, a city or an entire district. The party has a youth wing, Left Youth Solid , and a student wing known as The Left.SDS. The party is also affiliated with a number of left-wing think tanks , education, and policy groups, most prominently the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation . The party is formally led by a 26-member Party Executive Committee (PEC), of which seven are members of
6120-418: The dispute, including prominent former MdB Fabio De Masi . Die Tageszeitung reported that Wagenknecht's supporters had begun planning a breakaway party to compete in the 2024 European elections . In the 2023 Berlin state election , The Left lost two seats in the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin ; further, in the 2023 Bremen state election , they retained their 10 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen . In
6222-405: The emerging power China, including through military means." The Left is organised into branches in each of the 16 states . The party has smaller branches on a local level, for which the corresponding state branches are responsible. These branches usually organise across a district , city, or (in Berlin ), borough . The lowest unit of the party is the grassroots organization, which, depending on
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#17328511647266324-412: The first member of the party to serve as head of government of any German state. The Left achieved modest gains in the city-states of Hamburg and Bremen in 2015. They suffered a loss in Saxony-Anhalt reminiscent of that in Brandenburg 18 months earlier, falling to third place and losing a third of their voteshare. In September, the Left joined government in Berlin after the 2016 state election as
6426-470: The first time. It comfortably surpassed the electoral threshold in Bremen in 2007 , and throughout 2008 won seats in Lower Saxony , Hesse and Hamburg . The "five-party system" in Germany was now a reality in the west as well as the east. A string of electoral successes followed during the "super election year" of 2009. The Left achieved 7.5% in the European elections , confirming their enduring nationwide popularity. Six state elections were held throughout
6528-406: The latter state. BSW, conversely, performed strongly and placed third in each state. In October, the party congress elected Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken as the new co-leaders with only marginal opposition. The Left advocates for democratic socialism as an alternative to capitalism . The Left is vocally anti-fascist and anti-militarist . As a platform for left-wing politics in
6630-400: The leadership of the SED, was deleted. Two days later, the entire Politburo and Central Committee—including Krenz—resigned and a working committee took over direction of the party. On 6 December 1989, Krenz resigned from his remaining leadership posts. He was succeeded as head of state by LDPD leader Manfred Gerlach . In a bid to rehabilitate itself ahead of East Germany's first free election ,
6732-539: The legal framework of the newly reunited German state did not apply to events that had taken place in the former East Germany. Krenz also argued that the prosecution of former East German officials was a breach of a personal agreement given by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during their talks, which led to German reunification. However, the verdict was upheld in 1999. Krenz reportedly described his conviction as " victor's justice " and "cold war in court", saying, "The victorious power
6834-430: The massive foreign loans that propped up the economy, and it was now DM 123 billion in debt. Although Krenz had been the number-two man in the administration, Honecker had kept the true state of the economy a secret from him. Krenz was forced to send Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski to beg West Germany for a short-term loan to make interest payments. However, West Germany was unwilling to even consider negotiations until
6936-430: The minimum number of members required to sustain an official faction in the Bundestag, and it was preemptively dissolved on 6 December. In February it was reorganised as a group with reduced status . Former faction leader Dietmar Bartsch declined to run again. Heidi Reichinnek and Sören Pellmann , who previously ran against Wissler and Schirdewan for the federal leadership, announced their intention to contest against
7038-477: The narrow victory of Kohl for the CDU/CSU–FDP. The campaign was criticized as an obvious attempt to discredit the whole political left ; the PDS reinterpreted it for itself by printing red socks. In January 2005, a group of disaffected Social Democrats and trade unionists founded Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative (WASG), a left-wing party opposed to federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder 's Agenda 2010 labour and welfare reforms. The party made
7140-492: The national audience as "Genossen" ( comrades )–a term reserved for members of the SED. The speech sounded formulaic, and few East Germans believed him. For instance, they still remembered that after the Tiananmen Square protest just months earlier, he had gone to China to thank Deng Xiaoping on behalf of the regime. In Honecker's resignation speech, he named Krenz as his successor, further conveying an impression of undemocratic intransigence. For this and other reasons, Krenz
7242-400: The new relationship, the PDS renamed itself the Left Party.PDS ( German : Linkspartei.PDS ). The joint list ran under the name The Left.PDS ( German : Die Linke.PDS ), though in the western states, where the PDS was shunned for its association with the GDR, "PDS" was optional. The alliance's profile was greatly boosted when former federal Minister of Finance Oskar Lafontaine , who had left
7344-412: The new text, however, concluded this was not feasible, and crafted a new text relating to both emigration and temporary travel. It stipulated that East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad without having to meet the previous requirements for those trips, and also allowed for permanent emigration between all border crossings—including those between East and West Berlin. The new text
7446-470: The party (like MP Andrej Hunko ) are strong supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic . The party also takes a friendly stance towards China; Sevim Dağdelen , deputy leader of The Left in the Bundestag, criticized EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen 's speech calling for a new EU policy towards China, saying that "[t]he EU and its member states want to challenge
7548-411: The party congress in June. Katja Kipping , who had served as deputy leader since 2007, was elected as co-leader with 67.1% of votes. Bernd Riexinger was elected as the other co-leader with 53.5% of votes, winning a narrow contest against Dietmar Bartsch . In the 2013 federal election , The Left received 8.6% of the national vote and won 64 seats, a decline from 2009. However, due to the collapse of
7650-432: The party had elected a new moderate leadership and put forward an observably more moderate programme than previous elections. A capital flight to Switzerland ensued due to fear of increased taxes for the wealthy through higher inheritance tax and a wealth tax . The Left won 4.9% of votes and 39 seats in the 26 September federal election, its worst showing since its official formation in 2007, narrowly failing to cross
7752-477: The party include solidarity and more self-determination for workers, a ban on hydraulic fracturing , the rejection of privatization , and the introduction of a federal minimum wage , and more generally the overthrow of property and power structures in which, citing Karl Marx 's aphorism, "man is a debased, enslaved, abandoned, despicable essence." Concerning foreign policy, The Left calls for international disarmament , while ruling out any form of involvement of
7854-498: The party statutes. Factions with sufficiently large membership are entitled to send delegates to party congresses. In addition, there are around 40 working groups within the party. Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz ( German pronunciation: [ˈeːgɔn ˈkʁɛnts] ; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during
7956-467: The party's Bundestag faction is considered a second centre of power within the party, and conflicts sometimes arise between the federal leadership and parliamentary group. This most prominently happened in 2015, which resulted in Bundestag co-leaders Sahra Wagenknecht and Dietmar Bartsch being elected as lead candidates for the 2017 federal election, defeating federal co-chairs Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger . The Left's internal structure underwent
8058-520: The party's leadership, the executive board. This includes two federal co-chairpersons, of which at least one is required by statute to be female. Convention also dictates that one leader should come from the Eastern states and one from the west, though this is not an official rule. The PEC is elected by a regular party congress, which also discusses and determines the party platform and rules on basic political and organisational matters. The leadership group of
8160-512: The party, claiming they harboured "sympathy for the German Democratic Republic." The Left put forward Beate Klarsfeld , a journalist and outspoken anti-fascist who had investigated numerous Nazi war criminals. She received 10.2% of the delegate votes. Gauck was elected in the first round with 80.4% of votes. The Left's fortunes began to turn in 2011, and they suffered a string of setbacks and defeats through 2013, particularly in
8262-527: The positions of the radical right-wing AfD . In November 2021, Becker suggested to Wagenknecht to leave the Left and join the AfD, writing on Twitter : “Well, I think that if a person represents exactly the same positions as the AfD, they should join the party and turn their backs on the left. It is enough!". Becker is living in Leipzig. Die Linke The Left ( German : Die Linke ), commonly referred to as
8364-477: The press conference aired on West German television, which was viewable in most of East Germany. This prompted a mass exodus to the Berlin Wall by thousands of East Berliners, believing the statement to be a decision to open the border crossings at the Wall. Krenz and the rest of the leadership were unwilling to order the use of deadly force. Finally, the unprepared and outnumbered border guards, on their own authority, let
8466-721: The pro-leadership duo of Clara Bünger and Ates Gürpinar . On the first ballot, Reichinnek defeated Bünger 14 votes to 13; Gürpinar withdrew in favour of Bünger in the second ballot, but she was defeated again by Pellmann, again 14 to 13. Wissler and Schirdewan announced in August 2024 that they would not seek re-election at the upcoming party congress. In September, the party suffered major defeats in state elections in Brandenburg , Saxony and Thuringia . They were reduced to fourth place in Thuringia with 13%, while in Brandenburg and Saxony they fell below 5%, only narrowly retaining their seats in
8568-540: The regime continued to grow. In an attempt to stem the tide, Krenz authorised the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia , which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. The newly formed Politburo agreed to adopt new regulations for trips to the West by way of a Council of Ministers resolution. On 6 November, the Interior Ministry published a draft of new travel regulations. While branded as
8670-465: The second largest party in both states. The electoral collapse of the Social Democratic Party in the federal election on 27 September 2009 saw The Left's vote surge to 11.9%, increasing its representation in the Bundestag from 54 to 76 seats, just under half as large as the SPD's parliamentary group. It became the second most popular party in the eastern states with 28.5%, while experiencing
8772-488: The second time in the Volkskammer's forty-year history, the vote was not unanimous (the first was on the law on abortion ); 26 deputies voted against and 26 abstained. In his first address as leader, Krenz promised to blunt some of the harsher edges of Honecker's regime and promised democratic reforms. The speech was identical to the one he had given to a closed group of the SED Central Committee ; he even addressed
8874-500: The second-largest member of a coalition with the SPD and Greens. In the 2017 federal election , The Left fell to fifth place due to the re-entry of the FDP in fourth place and the ascension of AfD to third place. The party suffered substantial losses in its traditional eastern heartland, but made a net gain nationally thanks to an improvement in the western states, rising to 9.2% of votes (up 0.6 points). Throughout 2017, they failed to make
8976-534: The situation was too grave to wait for what he had called "a biological solution". Despite many protests, the Volkskammer elected Krenz to both of Honecker's major state posts— Chairman of the Council of State and Chairman of the National Defence Council . The former post was equivalent to that of president, while the latter post made Krenz commander-in-chief of the National People's Army . For only
9078-573: The small town of Dierhagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern . He remained on parole until the end of his sentence in 2006. Together with Karel Urbánek from Czechoslovakia , Krenz is the last former General Secretary from the Eastern Bloc still alive. Krenz was born to German parents in Kolberg , then part of Nazi Germany in what is now part of Poland . His family resettled in Damgarten in 1945 during
9180-459: The successor organisation to the SED, the Party of Democratic Socialism , expelled Krenz and several other former leaders of the Communist regime in 1990. In 1997, Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment for Cold War crimes, specifically manslaughter of four Germans attempting to escape East Germany over the Berlin Wall . He was also charged with electoral fraud , along with other criminal offences. He appealed, arguing that
9282-422: The traditionally conservative south. In January 2010, Oskar Lafontaine announced that, due to his ongoing cancer treatment, he would not seek re-election to the party leadership at the upcoming party congress. At the congress in May, Lothar Bisky also chose not to nominate for re-election; Klaus Ernst and Gesine Lötzsch were elected as the party's new leaders. Just a few weeks later, the SPD and Greens invited
9384-418: The two parties. With the established eastern base of the PDS and WASG's potential for growth in the west, the parties hoped to enter the Bundestag together. They agreed to form an electoral pact, in which they would not run against one another in direct constituencies and would create joint electoral lists featuring candidates from both parties. They also agreed to unify into a single party in 2007. To symbolise
9486-581: The wake of globalization , the Left includes many different factions, ranging from communists to social democrats . During the joint party convention with the Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative in March 2007, a document outlining political principles was agreed on. The official program of the party was decided upon by an overwhelming majority at the party conference in October 2011 in Erfurt . The Left
9588-523: The western states, which has been home to 85% of Germany's population. The 1994 German federal election also saw a "red socks" campaign used by the centre-right , including the CDU/CSU and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), to scare off a possible red–red–green coalition ( SPD –PDS– Greens ). Analysts have stated that such a strategy likely paid off, as it was seen as one of the decisive elements for
9690-534: The western states. They failed to win seats in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg , and suffered losses in Bremen , Berlin , and Saarland . Crucially, the party lost its seats in the Landtags of Schleswig-Holstein , North Rhine-Westphalia , and Lower Saxony . On 11 April 2012, Gesine Lötzsch resigned as party co-leader, citing medical conditions her husband was suffering. Klaus Ernst subsequently announced he would not seek re-election as leader at
9792-470: The year, and in each of them the party either surged ahead or consolidated earlier gains. They saw an upswing in Thuringia and Hesse and won seats for the first time in Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland . Oskar Lafontaine ran as the party's lead candidate in Saarland, leading the party to a massive success with 21.3% of the vote. In Saxony and Brandenburg , The Left's vote declined slightly, but it remained
9894-510: Was almost as detested as Honecker had been; one popular joke suggested that the only difference between them was that Krenz still had a gallbladder . Indeed, almost as soon as he took power, thousands of East Germans took to the streets to demand his resignation. Also on the same day he took office, Krenz received a top secret report from planning chief Gerhard Schürer that showed the depths of East Germany's economic crisis. It showed that East Germany did not have enough money to make payments on
9996-435: Was completed on 9 November. However, no one briefed the Politburo's de facto spokesman, East Berlin party boss Günter Schabowski , that the regulations were going to come into effect the following afternoon. Thus, at the daily press conference, when a reporter asked when the regulations would come into force, Schabowski assumed they were already in effect and replied, "As far as I know—immediately, without delay." Excerpts from
10098-510: Was dealt with at once, Prague would have to seriously consider sealing off the East German-Czechoslovak border. At a Politburo meeting on 7 November, it was decided to enact the section of the draft travel regulations addressing permanent emigration immediately. Initially, the Politburo planned to create a special border crossing near Schirnding specifically for this emigration. The Interior and Stasi bureaucrats charged with crafting
10200-573: Was denounced as "complete trash" by West Berlin Mayor Walter Momper . In a case of particularly bad timing, the draft was published just days after the government allowed travel to Czechoslovakia to resume. This resulted in a flood of refugees crowding onto the steps of the West German embassy in Prague. The enraged Czechoslovaks gave their East German counterparts an ultimatum: unless the matter
10302-401: Was excluded from further political developments due to the aversion of the opposition, now in power, which considered it essentially tied to the Communist regime despite its change of name. After debuting with a meagre 2.4% nationwide in the 1990 German federal election immediately after reunification, the PDS gained popularity throughout the 1990s as a protest party in the eastern states. In
10404-460: Was scheduled on 30 October to 1 November 2020, but was cancelled on 27 October due to the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany ; the party instead held a fully digital congress on 26–27 February 2021. Hessian parliamentary leader Janine Wissler and Thuringia branch leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow were elected co-chairs on 27 February, winning 84% and 71% of votes cast, respectively. During
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