The Local Germany

Platzeck calls for reconciliation with former Eastern communists

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:09:00 +0100

Brandenburg’s Minister President Matthias Platzeck has called for reconciliation with the former communists who ruled East Germany.

Duisburg candidate for mayor: boycott Israel

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:23:00 +0100

Hermann Dierkes, a leftist candidate for mayor in the Ruhr Valley city Duisburg, on Wednesday defended his call for a boycott of Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians despite widespread criticism he was stoking anti-Jewish sentiments in Germany.

Hesse SPD candidate calls for forced loans from the rich

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:36:00 +0100

Behind in the polls ahead of next month’s state election, the Social Democratic candidate to become premier of Hesse, Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, on Monday called for Germany’s rich to loan the government money to help combat the economic downturn.

Hesse dissolves parliament for early election after SPD rebellion

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:19:00 +0100

The German state of Hesse dissolved its parliament on Wednesday to make way for new elections after a spectacular rebellion among embattled Social Democrats kept them from forming a ruling coalition.

Lafontaine demands 'millionaire tax' to boost economy

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:05:00 +0100

Oskar Lafontaine, the head of the hard-line socialist Left party, on Friday demanded Germany implement a “millionaire tax” to help offset the economic impact of the financial crisis.

Hesse girds for new state elections

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:33:00 +0100

Politicians in Hesse on Tuesday were bracing themselves for fresh elections, one day after rebel Social Democratic MPs torpedoed their party's formation of a centre-left minority government in the German state.

SPD rebels block Hesse left-wing coalition

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:16:00 +0100

Rebel Social Democrats derailed the formation of a left-wing minority government in the German state of Hesse on Monday amid ongoing opposition to cooperating with the hard-line socialist Left party.

Socialist presidential candidate says Germany isn’t a democracy

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:58:00 +0200

Peter Sodann, former TV cop and presidential candidate for the hard-line socialist Left party, has come under fire for his comments labelling Germany undemocratic.

How I learned to stop worrying and love my Sparbuch

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:33:00 +0200

In the latest dispatch of Portnoy’s Stammtisch, The Local’s column about life in Germany, Portnoy muses on how the current global financial crisis has brought Germany’s leftist populist Oskar Lafontaine and America’s cowboy capitalist George W. Bush together.

Steinmeier calls on SPD to end debate on ‘Agenda 2010’

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:43:00 +0200

The Social Democratic candidate for chancellor next year, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has called on his party to end its divisive debate on the controversial reform package known as Agenda 2010.

Leftists outraged by Schmidt’s comparison of Lafontaine to Hitler

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:55:00 +0200

Members of Germany’s hard-line socialist Left party on Monday attacked former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt for comparing their populist leader Oskar Lafontaine with Adolf Hitler and French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Far-left overtakes SPD in west German state

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:41:00 +0200

The hard-line socialist Left Party has overtaken the centre-left Social Democrats for the first time ever in a western German state, according to a new opinion poll released on Wednesday.

Social Democrats demand leftward lurch

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:03:00 +0200

Leading members of Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats are demanding the party tack to the left on economic issues in light of the continuing success of the hard-line socialist Left Party.

SPD in Hesse pushes ahead with leftist alliance

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:53:00 +0200

Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the state of Hesse is in talks to form its first ever alliance in the west of the country with the hard-line socialist Left party that is fast becoming a force in national politics.

The Left party might enter Bavarian parliament

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0200

Die Linke, the left-wing party surrounding Oskar Lafontaine, could make it into the Bavarian state government in the September elections, according to a new poll.

Rights envoy calls for debate on East German legacy

Thu, 29 May 2008 11:02:00 +0200

The German government’s human rights envoy Günter Nooke on Thursday called for a new public debate on East Germany’s troubled legacy following renewed accusations a high-ranking MP worked for the Stasi.

The Left's Gysi grilled for alleged Stasi links

Wed, 28 May 2008 22:35:00 +0200

Gregor Gysi, a top leader of Germany's hard-line socialist party The Left, came under fire on Wednesday from parliamentary deputies accusing him of having informed for East Germany's feared Stasi secret police.