The Left (Germany)

The Left (German: Die Linke), commonly referred to as the Left Party (German: Die Linkspartei [diː ˈlɪŋkspaʁˌtaɪ] ^ⓘ), 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 former East Germany, that being the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Since 2022, The Left's co-chairpersons have been Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan. The party holds 28 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 former parliamentary group was the smallest of six in the Bundestag, and was headed by parliamentary co-leaders Amira Mohamed Ali and Dietmar Bartsch.

The Left is represented in eight of Germany's sixteen state legislatures, including all five of the eastern states. As of 2021, the party participates in governments in the states of Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a junior partner, as well as in Thuringia, where it leads a coalition with the Social Democratic Party and The Greens headed by Minister-President Bodo Ramelow. The Left is a founding member of the Party of the European Left, and is the third-largest party in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament. In December 2022, The Left had 54,214 registered members, making it the sixth-largest party in Germany by membership. The Left promotes anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, and anti-militarism, and is neutral on European integration. It is the furthest left-wing party of the six represented in the Bundestag.

In 2023 there was major split in the party with the establishment of Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht. As a result The Left Fraktion in the Bundestag was dissolved.