Profile: The Left

Die Linke

The presence of radical left wing parties in European parliaments is often dismissed as a continental quirk – but the story of The Left in Germany is quite different to that of similarly placed parties in France or Greece. It’s easy to forget that, once upon a time, there were two Germanies. In the East, a brutal communist dictatorship propped up by the Soviet Union ruled for just over 40 years – and it’s there that Die Linke can trace their roots.

Even with the victory of capitalism and reunification, the old Socialist Unity Party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) did not lose all their support. Reformers within the party – unstained by the crimes of the East German dictatorship, some even active participants in the revolution – started a process of re-branding and reforming the party, naming themselves the Party of Democratic Socialism (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus, PDS). Under Gregor Gysi, the party actively campaigned across the new, reunified Germany.

The party became Die Linke through a combination of rebrands, alliances and mergers: it rebranded to Die Linkspartei.PDS (or the Left Party.Party of Democratic Socialism - catchy) in the mid 2000s and allied with a small leftist party (WASG) founded by former SPD supporters led by Oskar Lafontaine*. These two parties finally merged in 2007, forming Die Linke.

I skipped the interim period where they campaigned as Die Linke.WASG. Enough already with the acronyms...

Throughout this time, the party campaigned tirelessly to establish themselves in the west. Apart from the tiny state of Saarland, where Oskar Lafontaine’s popularity bolster Die Linke’s performance, the party remains firmly rooted in the East.

Worse for Die Linke is their failure to attract young voters - according to German government figures, 71% of their members are retirees – roughly double that of the major parties (CDU/CSU and SPD). This combination of geographical and demographic isolation has taken its toll - Die Linke’s most recent acrimonious leadership election (eventually electing the low-profile Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger as dual-chairpeople after Lafontaine withdrew) is further undermining their poll numbers.

With the Pirate Party the new kid on the block, attracting protest votes and new members – a position Die Linke would envy – the question is being asked: Does Germany really need Die Linke anymore?

*Lafontaine left the SPD over Gerhard Schroder’s Agenda 2010 – the employment and welfare reforms widely credited with Germany’s current (relative) strong position.

P.S. Only one more party left: The NPD, the far right. I won’t mention the war.