The Left
The elections for the 18th German Bundestag will be held in Germany on 22 September 2013.
The Left
Party leaders: Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger
Year of foundation: 2007
2009 election result: 75 seats
The Left pursues the goal of democratic socialism and sees itself anchored in the tradition of the labour movement. It is the successor party of The Left. PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism), which grew out of the SED, the former ruling state party of the GDR, and the WASG (Electoral Alternative Labour and Social Justice), which mainly consisted of former SPD members. The two parties merged to form The Left in 2007. It has been successful primarily in eastern Germany, but is meanwhile also represented in several state parliaments in western Germany.
Top team
Nicole Gohlke, Jan van Aken, Caren Lay, Klaus Ernst, Gregor Gysi, Dietmar Bartsch, Sahra Wagenknecht, Diana Golze (from left to right)
The Left
The Left is standing with a top team of eight men and women. Best known are Gregor Gysi, who is the party’s leader in the Bundestag, and Sahra Wagenknecht, one of four vice-chairpersons of the party. During the election campaign Wagenknecht will be mainly responsible for the field of economic and finance policy. Both politicians are already members of the Bundestag and are considered committed and passionate advocates of their ideas.
