The Local Germany

Rising populism in Germany: What should mainstream parties do about it?

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 18:48:53 +0200

Populist attitudes in Germany are increasing, with more than three in 10 voters sympathizing with anti-mainstream parties, according to a new study.

Socialists back 30-hour workweek initiative

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:28:00 +0100

Leading members of Germany's socialist Left party are backing an initiative to shorten the country's workweek to 30 hours without lowering wages in a bid to create more jobs.

Leftists demand 100 percent tax on the rich

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:25:00 +0100

Germany's socialist Left party want a 100 percent tax on anyone earning over €500,000 and will be including the policy in their general election campaign platform, a newspaper reported on Friday.

Unions call nationwide strikes on Monday

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:14:00 +0100

Germany is bracing for a series of public worker strikes Monday, following repeated walk-outs the Frankfurt airport and Berlin’s Tegel airport.

Leftists wants police pepper spray ban

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:11:00 +0100

The socialist Left party is trying to ban police in North Rhine-Westphalia from using pepper spray in what could be a precursor to attempts to forbid its use by cops nationwide.

Survey shows Pirates sailing full speed ahead

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:20:00 +0200

After their surprise success in Berlin’s state election, Germany’s Pirate Party has started to navigate national interest as well. According to a survey published Wednesday, the Pirates have captured seven percent of the electorate.

MPs to boycott Pope's Bundestag speech

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:03:00 +0200

As preparations are finalised for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Germany at the end of the month, a number of MPs have declared they will boycott his speech to parliament.

Northeastern state election gets underway

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:18:00 +0200

Voters go to the polls in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's home state Sunday, with surveys showing her conservatives are likely to cling on to power after a campaign dominated by the euro debt crisis.

Social Democrats warn leftists after Wall praise

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:41:00 +0200

Germany's centre-left Social Democrats have warned members of the hard-line socialist Left party they would be rejected as state coalition partners unless they condemn the building of the Berlin Wall.

Pressure grows on Left over anti-Semitism

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:20:00 +0200

Pressure is growing within Germany's Left party to take decisive action against alleged anti-Semitic tendencies among the socialists.

Anti-Semitic flyer found on The Left website

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:42:00 +0200

Prosecutors on Thursday said they were investigating an anti-Semitic leaflet which was found on the website of a regional Ruhr Valley chapter of Germany's socialist party The Left.

Greens jump in the polls

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:45:00 +0100

The nuclear crisis in Japan has increased support in Germany for the environmentalist Green party, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The Greens have traditionally taken a strong anti-nuclear stance.

Former neo-Nazi becomes leftist after sex change

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 10:21:00 +0100

Before undergoing a sex change to become a woman, Monika Strub was a member of Germany's neo-Nazi NPD party. But ten years later, she is running for Baden-Württemberg's state parliament for the socialist Left party.

Leftists fear becoming ‘attractive as a cow pie’

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:52:00 +0100

Coming on the heels of an unwanted debate about communism, the embattled leader of The Left has rejected criticism of his supposedly opulent lifestyle, saying the socialist party was in danger of becoming “as attractive as a cow pie.”

Left remembers Luxemburg and Liebknecht amid communism row

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 12:49:00 +0100

Leaders of The Left party met in Berlin on Sunday for the traditional laying of a wreath in memory of the murdered socialists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht amid in-fighting over whether communism was still their aim.

Conservatives call for ban on The Left party amid commie flap

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:47:00 +0100

Bavaria's conservative premier Horst Seehofer has backed a call to consider banning the socialist Left party in the wake of controversial comments by its chairwoman Gesine Lötzsch about putting Germany on the path to communism.

WikiLeaks cable embarrasses Left leader

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:58:00 +0100

The Left party's parliamentary leader Gregor Gysi was left with some explaining to do after an American diplomatic cable revealed he apparently told US Ambassador Philip Murphy that his party's opposition to NATO was only for show.

Socialist class warriors divided over leaders' posh hotel rooms

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:52:00 +0100

Members of the German socialist party The Left (Die Linke) have been complaining that two of their most prominent leaders stayed in four-star hotels during a trip to France while the rest of the delegation made do in two-star accommodation.

Unruly MPs to face €3,000 fines

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:51:00 +0100

German lawmakers who play up in parliament face fines of up to €3,000 under a new regulation aimed at improving the decorum among the people’s representatives, a Thursday media report said.

German business eyes friendlier future with the Green Party

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 16:26:00 +0200

Germany's resurgent Green party is setting records in the opinion polls and being tentatively courted by unlikely new suitors: industry types who long saw the environmentalists as adversaries.