Interview: Die Linke - Germany's Newest Political Force

Few Americans know much about German politics, and even fewer know anything about Germany's newest political force - Die Linke (the Left Party), which was formed this past June from a merger of the western German WASG and the eastern PDS parties. Now, according to the most recent Forsa polling Die Linke is Germany's third largest party, attracting 13% of the German electorate. Die LInke's principal strength has always been in the new states of eastern Germany, where they are in control of several state and municipal governing councils.  Recently, with the charismatic leader Oscar Lafontaine (former German finance minister) Die Linke scored a political victory in Bremen, taking seats in a western German state assembly for the first time.

Last spring Olaf Petersen, a well-known German blogger, left the virtual world of blogs for the real world of politics and became an activist for Die Linke in Nordfriesland, the northern most district of Germany's northern most state. Olaf kindly agreed to answer some questions from Dialog International. I translated the interview into English.

Dialog International: Why did you join Die Linke and what is your current role in the party?

Petersen: I got involved in the Internet and had access to databanks and other information, and soon some of my friends and acquaintances started coming to me for advice concerning social issues. WIth respect to unemployment compensation it became quite clear to me that those people who are most in need of the financial aid are for the most part left to their own devices. They are given instructions and information that are virtually incomprehensible, or they get half-truths that then allow them to get only a portion of the benefits they are entitled to. There is no government office or advisor who is acting in their interests. I started to get angry at how the most vunerable people in our society were being treated. Just look at all the Internet discussion boards that deal with these topics. The fact that all this was taking place with the Social Democrats (SPD) in power - even though the problems originated with Helmut Kohl's disasterous economic policies after the colloapse of East Germany - made me realize that there was a real need for a genuine worker's party. So in May 2007 I decided to join the PDS which soon merged with the WASG to form Die Linke (The Left).  By the beginning of July the members voted to make me the district leader, a position I share with a female colleague.

Dialog International: What are some of the local issues facing voters in Nordfriesland?

Petersen : It's difficult to generalize, since the problems are different from community to community and city to city. Also we just formed Die Linke in Nordfriesland in July, and we're just in the process of creating local party organizations - one of my responsibilities. So the question can't really be answered. But in my region public transportation is a big issue: many people feel that it is too expensive and the network is insufficient in the sparsely populated area where we live. Above all, the costs for school transportation is much too high, since many people live just above the poverty threshhold and therefore are not eligible for public assistance. But the most important topics will become apparent next year in the campaign for the regional elections in May 2008 - and of course from feedback from the local party organizations.

Dialog International:  What are the national/international issues that concern people?

Petersen : Domestic issues are more important to people - the everyday worries of citizens like constant price increases, especially the high prices for energy and groceries, as well as rising taxes. It comes down to this: people need more and more money in their pockets but the big political parties tell them that they're better off with less and less. But people have more influence on how the government conducts domestic policy than on foreign policy. At least we can thank our former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that he kept Germany out of the American disaster in Iraq.  That, at least, expressed the will of the majority.  On that basis we should also be withdrawing from Afghanistan. In my opinion most German citizens view foreign policy with a mixture of fatalism and apathy. To some extent we can blame this on the incompetence of of the current US government - as a superpower it provides a terrible example.

Dialog International: What are the chances for a national alliance between Die Linke and the SPD? The Greens?

Petersen : The SPD was willing to support the election of a woman from the CDU as chancellor just so they could remain in power, so the SPD is capable of anything. With respect to the Greens, I am convinced they will eventually peel off to either the SPD or us; the remainder can join the Liberals (FDP) who would welcome a few new moderate, but affluent, members. But joking aside, Die Linke is confronted with the question of whether like the Greens it will split into two factions: the Fundis (ideological hardliners) and the Realos (pragmatists). I hope and believe that the Realos will represent the majority. Hard-line ideological positions are only effective when you are in the opposition; once you gain power and need to govern you must be able to negotiate and find common ground with other parties.

Dialog International: How is Die Linke dealing with the legacy from the DDR/SED (former East Germany), and can the party gain traction with voters in western Germany?

Petersen: There's no simple answer to this. I personally don't have any connection to that, and in a few years no one will care about what the predecessor organizations were. Take for example the national defense policy of Die Linke: if we were advocating a "peace policy" along the lines of the former SED you would be more likely to see the German army marching in goose-step through the Brandenburg Gate rather than arguments for disarmament and a smaller military. That would be grostesque, wouldn't it? But you can't turn back the clock; we are a modern, and modern-thinking group and we provide new answers and new solutions to problems, in contrast to the established main parties, who always make the technocratic excuse that "it's not possible".  Furthermore we are in position to show comrades around the world how to create more freedom and prosperity in a modern social state - an example that is long overdue.  Germany is certainly wealthy enough for this.

Comments

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