The Left Germany



The Left is a party on the radical left of the German political spectrum. It was formed from the Party of Democratic Socialism which came from the former ruling party of East Germany. It is part of the European Left and enjoys the most popularity in it's nation of any of the parties in the European Left. It has 53 out of 614 seats in the Bundestag. That makes it the fourth most popular party in Germany. Most polls predict it moving to third in the 2009 elections, although these elections are still far off in September and things could change. [1]

[edit] History
In the wake of unification, the SED sought to resurrect itself, adopting a new name, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), and replacing its older leaders with younger, more moderate figures, such as its chairman, Gregor Gysi. In 1990, in the first all-German election since the before World War Two, the PDS won 11 percent of the vote in former East German territories but won nearly no votes from former West Germany. With the failing economy of eastern Germany during much of the 1990s fueling popular discontent among its large unemployed population, the PDS continued to attract support there. In both 1994 and 1998 the PDS captured some one-fifth of the votes in eastern Germany. In 1998 it formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Land (state) of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, despite opposition from the SPD’s national leadership, and it also entered a coalition with the SPD in Berlin after that city’s elections in 2001. Dropping below the 5 percent threshold in 2002, however, the PDS won only two seats in the federal Bundestag, the lower house of parliament. For the 2005 elections, the PDS allied with disillusioned members of the SPD and Green parties—who had established Electoral Alternative Labour and Social Justice (Die Wahlalternative Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit) in western Germany—to form the Left Party (formally the Left Party.PDS), which captured 54 seats in the Bundestag. It is now called The Left (or, informally, the Left Party - "die Linke" in German).

[edit] Criticism
Many German politicians where shocked when some polls revealed that the Left might gain 12 percent of the vote in the 2005 elections. They accused the party of appealing to Neo-Nazis by opposing foreign workers, whom the left felt where taking jobs from German citizens.

Many have criticized the Left's leaders for citing Karl Marx and Rosa Luxemburg in their speeches. Many mainstream politicians have characterized them as radical leftwing demagogues.

[edit] Positions
Conference delegates also called for greater public expenditure on health, education and environmental repair, a ban on layoffs by profitable firms and higher property, corporate and inheritance taxes. [2]

Die Linke remains the only German party opposed to the war in Afghanistan. [3]

They also are the only German political party that opposes the new EU constitution. Die Linke says that it is entirely pro-business and was the only opposition to the increase in politicians' salaries. [4]

Overall Die Linke's support in coming from dissenters of the traditonal German politcal scene, as Die Linke has adopted a "reformist policy" [5].

[edit] More Info
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