Left Party (Germany)

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 East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) until 1990. Between 1990 and 2005 the party's PDS predecessor had been seen as the leftwing "party of the East", and whilst achieving minimal support in western Germany regularly won 20-25% of the vote in eastern Germany, entering coalition government (with the SPD) in two of eastern Germany's five states. In 2005 the PDS entered an electoral alliance with the western Germany-based Labor and Social Justice Party, forming the new Left Party, which won 8.7% of the vote in Germany's September 2005 federal elections (more than double the PDS' 4% share in the 2002 election).

Related Topics:
German - Period - Socialist - Political party - Germany - Socialist Unity Party - East Germany - 1990 - SPD - Labor and Social Justice Party - Federal elections

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At European level the PDS co-founded the European Left alliance of parties, and the Left Party is the largest party in the European Parliament's European United Left/Nordic Green Left parliamentary group.

Related Topics:
European Left - European Parliament - European United Left/Nordic Green Left

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~