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.
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.
Lothar Bisky was a German politician. He was the chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS),the successor of East Germany's Socialist Unity Party (SED). In June 2007 he became co-chairman of The Left party,formed by a merger of the PDS and the much smaller Labour and Social Justice –The Electoral Alternative. From 2007 until 2010 he was the President of the Party of the European Left. Also,he was the Publisher of the socialist newspaper Neues Deutschland.
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.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 15th Bundestag. Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's centre-left "red-green" governing coalition retained a narrow majority,and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) retained their status as the largest party in the Bundestag by three seats.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 16 October 1994 to elect the members of the 13th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU alliance led by Helmut Kohl remained the largest faction in parliament,with Kohl remaining Chancellor in a narrowly re-elected coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This elected Bundestag was the largest in history until 2017,numbering 672 members.
Federal elections were held in recently united Germany on 2 December 1990 to elect the members of the 12th Bundestag,within the regular time of nearly four years after the January 1987 West German federal election. Due to the accession of the former East German states on 3 October,after which the Bundestag was expanded with East German Volkskammer delegates,the elections were first democratic all-German elections since the early 1930s.
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 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.
Katina Schubert is a German politician who is serving as leader of the Berlin branch of The Left and member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin since 2016. Since 2021,she has also been one of six deputy federal leaders of The Left.
Berlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf is an electoral constituency represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system,it is designated as constituency 84. It is located in eastern Berlin,comprising the Marzahn-Hellersdorf borough.
Marlies Deneke is a German politician.
Ursula Fischer is a German former national politician (PDS).
Petra Bläss is a German politician. She served in the German parliament (Bundestag) between 1990 and 2002,and was a Bundestag vice-president between 1998 and 2002.
Dagmar Enkelmann is a German politician of Die Linke party.
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.
Sören Pellmann is a German politician who represents The Left. Pellmann has served as a member of the Bundestag from Leipzig II in the state of Saxony since 2017. Since 2024,he has been serving as the Leader of The Left Group in the Bundestag,alongside Heidi Reichinnek.
The 2021 Berlin state election,ruled invalid in 2022 and repeated in 2023,was held on 26 September 2021,on the same day as the 2021 German federal election,which also had to be repeated in parts of Berlin due to irregularities. Thus,the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin was elected twice.
Iris Spranger is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has served as Senator for Interior,Digitalisation and Sport in the Berlin state government since December 2021. She has been a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin since 2011,and previously served from 1999 to 2006. From 2006 to 2011 she was State Secretary in the state Finance Department.
