The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party in Germany active between 1989 and 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which ruled the German Democratic Republic as a state party until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing "party of the East". While it achieved minimal support in western Germany, it regularly won 15% to 25% of the vote in the eastern new states of Germany, entering coalition governments in the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.
Overhang seats are constituency seats won in an election under the traditional mixed member proportional (MMP) system, when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of individual constituencies won. The electoral reform in Germany removed the overhang seats, and replaced with Zweitstimmendeckung.
Gregor Florian Gysi is a German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left and a prominent politician of The Left political party.
Gesine Lötzsch is a German politician of the left-wing party Die Linke. In 2010, with Klaus Ernst, she was elected president of the party.
Sahra Wagenknecht is a German politician, economist, author, and publicist. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Bundestag for The Left. From 2015 to 2019, she served as the parliamentary co-chair of her party.
Dietmar Gerhard Bartsch is a German politician who has served as co-chair of The Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag since 2015. Prior, he served as federal treasurer of The Left from 2006 to 2009 and federal managing officer from 2005 to 2010. He was a prominent member of The Left's predecessor party, the PDS, of which he served as treasurer from 1991 to 1997 and federal managing officer from 1997 to 2002.
The Left, commonly referred to as the Left Party, 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 the former East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Since 2022, The Left's co-chairpersons have been Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan. The party holds 39 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 smallest of six in the Bundestag, and is headed by parliamentary co-leaders Amira Mohamed Ali and Dietmar Bartsch.
Lucy Redler is a German politician, Socialist Alternative activist, and member of the Left Party. From 2005 to 2007, Redler served on the executive committee of the Berlin section of the Labor and Social Justice List (WASG), and she was its chief candidate in the 2006 Berlin state elections. The German media has given Redler the nickname "Red Lucy".
An indirect presidential election was held in Germany on 30 June 2010 following the resignation of Horst Köhler as president of Germany on 31 May 2010. Christian Wulff, the candidate nominated by the three governing parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and the Free Democratic Party, was elected president in the third ballot. His main contender was the candidate of two opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance '90/The Greens, independent human rights activist Joachim Gauck.
Bärbel Beuermann is a German politician, and was a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia as a list MP since the state election held on 9 May 2010. She is the joint leader of the party in the Landtag, and is also a member of The Left's national party executive. After the election of 2012 in North Rhine-Westphalia she retired from the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Anna Gertrud Rosemarie Hein is a German politician who was education spokeswoman for the Left Party. From 1990 to 2006, she was a member of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt, and in 2009 she became a member of the Bundestag.
Bernd Riexinger is a German politician of the left party Die Linke and member of the Bundestag representing Baden-Württemberg. From 2012 to 2021 he was co-chairperson of The Left alongside Katja Kipping.
The Left of North Rhine-Westphalia is the chapter of the Left Party in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Ursula Fischer is a German former national politician (PDS).
Dagmar Enkelmann is a German politician of Die Linke party.
Heidi Knake-Werner is a German politician. She served as a member of the German parliament ("Bundestag") between 1994 and 2002. Between 2002 and 2009 she was one of Berlin's more high-profile senators.
Caren Nicole Lay is a German politician. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009 and has been deputy chairperson of the Die Linke parliamentary group in the Bundestag since 2017. From 2012 to 2018, she was one of the deputy chairpersons of her party. In November 2019, Lay unsuccessfully applied to succeed Sahra Wagenknecht as co-chairperson of the Die Linke parliamentary group in the Bundestag. She was defeated by Amira Mohamed Ali in a competitive vote.
Sören Pellmann is a German politician. Born in Leipzig, Saxony, he represents The Left. Pellmann has served as a member of the Bundestag from Leipzig II in the state of Saxony since 2017.
Martina Renner is a German politician of The Left who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013 and one of six deputy leaders of her party since 2018.
Elke Breitenbach is a German politician of The Left who served as Senator for Integration, Labour and Social Affairs in the Berlin state government from 2016 to 2021. She previously sat as a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin from 2003 to 2017.
