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.
Saxony-Anhalt is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of 20,451.7 square kilometres (7,896.4 sq mi) and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area and the 11th-largest by population. Its capital is Magdeburg and its largest city is Halle (Saale).
The 2002 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 21 April 2002 to elect the members of the 4th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) minority government led by Minister-President Reinhard Höppner was defeated. The SPD fell to third place, while the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) moved into first. The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and CDU leader Wolfgang Böhmer was elected Minister-President.
Cornelia Pieper is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). She currently serves as German consul general in Gdańsk, Poland.
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.
Magdeburg 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 69. It is located in central Saxony-Anhalt, comprising the city of Magdeburg and northeastern parts of Salzlandkreis district.
Marlies Deneke is a German politician.
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.
Manfred Behrens is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a Member of the German Bundestag for Saxony-Anhalt from 2009 until 2021.
Matthias W. Birkwald is a German politician. Since October 2009 he has been a member of the German Bundestag.
Heike Brehmer is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as member of the Bundestag and former district counselor of the district of Aschersleben-Staßfurt.
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.
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.
Katrin Budde is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Saxony-Anhalt since 2017.
Stefan Gebhardt is a German politician of The Left. Since 2019, he has been the leader of the party's Saxony-Anhalt branch. He has been a member of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt since 1998, and a member of the Mansfeld-Südharz district council since 2007.
Katja Pähle is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Since 2016, she has served as chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. She has also been deputy leader of the party's state branch since 2015, and a member of the SPD federal executive since 2017. She was the party's lead candidate for the 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election.
Eva von Angern is a German lawyer and politician of The Left. She has been a member of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt since 2002, and chairwoman of the Left parliamentary group since December 2020. Previously, she was deputy chairwoman since 2014. She was the party's lead candidate for the 2021 state election.
Harz 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 68. It is located in western Saxony-Anhalt, comprising the district of Harz.
Jörg Schindler is a German politician and lawyer of The Left who is serving as federal director of the party since 2018.
