The Party of Democratic Socialism was a left-wing populist political party in Germany active between 1989 and 2007. It was the legal successor to the communist Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED),which ruled the German Democratic Republic as the sole governing 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 with the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.
Petra Pau is a German politician of The Left. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998. Since 2006,she has also served as one of the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag,being the first member of her party to hold this office. Pau belongs to the reform-oriented wing of her party,actively supporting parliamentary representative democracy.
Hans-Christian Ströbele was a German politician and lawyer. He was a member of Alliance 90/The Greens,the German green party.
Katja Kipping is a German politician of The Left party. She was a member of the Bundestag representing Saxony from 2005 to 2021,a federal co-leader of The Left from 2012 to 2021 alongside Bernd Riexinger,and the Senator for Integration,Labour and Social Affairs in the Berlin state government from December 2021 to April 2023.
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 president of the Bundestag presides over the sessions of the Bundestag,the federal parliament of Germany,with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence,the office is ranked second after the president and before the chancellor.
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 former East Germany,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.
Thomas Nord is a German politician and Member of the German Federal Parliament.
Klaus Lederer is a German politician of The Left who served as Deputy Mayor and Senator for Culture and Europe in the Berlin state government between December 2016 to April 2023. He is also a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin since 2001. He previously served as chairman of the Berlin branch of The Left from 2006 to 2016. He was the lead candidate for his party in the 2016,2021 and 2023 state elections.
Angelika Barbe is a German biologist who became a politician.
Canan Bayram is a German lawyer and politician. She is a member of the 19th German Parliament (Bundestag). She was a member of the House of Representatives of Berlin from 2006 to 2017,when she was directly elected to the Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg –Prenzlauer Berg East electoral district in the 2017 federal election. From 2017 until 2021,she was the only Alliance 90/Green member of parliament to hold a direct mandate rather than being elected from the party list.
Matthias W. Birkwald is a German politician. Since October 2009 he has been a member of the German Bundestag.
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.
Nicole Stephanie Gohlke is a German politician.
Stefan Liebich is a German politician,who served as a member of the Bundestag for the Democratic Socialist party The Left between 2009 and 2021.
Thomas Lutze is a German politician who represents the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Previously,he was a member of the Left Party. Thomas Lutze has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Saarland from 2009 to 2023,and has represented Berlin since October 2023.
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.
Helin Evrim Sommer is a German politician,a former member of the Berlin House of Representatives and of the German Bundestag for the state of Berlin. She was a member of The Left party until May 2022.
Cansel Kiziltepe is a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as State Minister (Senator) for Labour,Social Affairs,Equality,Integration,Diversity and Anti-Discrimination in the government of Governing Mayor Kai Wegner since 2023.
Bettina Jarasch is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who served as Deputy Mayor and Senator for Environment,Mobility,Consumer and Climate Protection in the Berlin state government from December 2021 to April 2023. She has been a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin from 2016 to 2021 and again since 2023,as well as leader of the Berlin branch of the Greens from 2011 to 2016. She was the Greens' lead candidate for the 2021 Berlin state election and again for the 2023 Berlin repeat state election.
