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.
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.
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 parliamentary co-chair of her party.
Katja Kipping is a German politician of The Left who is serving as Senator for Integration,Labour and Social Affairs in the Berlin state government since December 2021. She was previously a member of the Bundestag representing Saxony from 2005 to 2021. She was federal co-leader of The Left from 2012 to 2021 alongside Bernd Riexinger.
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.
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 85. 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.
Luise Amtsberg is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been a member of the German Bundestag since the federal election in 2013. She contested the constituency of Kiel in 2013 and 2017.
Monika Grütters is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013-2021. She has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2005 and was chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Media Affairs from 2009 to 2013. Since December 2016,Grütters has also been the chairwoman of the CDU Berlin and an elected member of the CDU Federal Executive Board.
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.
The 2021 Berlin state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD),The Left,and The Greens led by Governing Mayor Michael Müller. Müller did not run for re-election as Mayor,and former federal minister Franziska Giffey led the SPD in the election. The Berlin expropriation referendum was held on the same day.
Susanne Hennig-Wellsow is a German politician. She was federal co-chairwoman of The Left from 2021 to 2022 and has served as a member of the Bundestag for Thuringia since 2021. Previously,she was a member of the Landtag of Thuringia from 2004 to 2021,leader of the Thuringia branch of The Left since November 2013,and leader of the state parliamentary group since December 2014.
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.
