The Left Party.PDS facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Left Party.PDS
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| Leader | Lothar Bisky |
| Founded | April 21 1946 (SED) December 16 1989 (SED-PDS) February 4 1990 (PDS) July 17 2005 (Die Linkspartei.PDS) |
| Headquarters | Karl-Liebknecht-Haus Kleine Alexanderstraße 28 D-10178 Berlin |
| Ideology | Democratic Socialism |
| European affiliation | Party of the European Left |
| International affiliation | none |
| European Parliament group | GUE/NGL |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | |
| www.sozialisten.de | |
The Left Party.PDS (in German: Die Linkspartei or Linkspartei.PDS) was a political party in Germany. It was known for its left-wing ideas. In 2007, this party joined with another group. Together, they formed a new party called "Die Linke", which means "The Left".
Contents
Party History
After East Germany ended in 1990, the old ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), changed its name. It first became the SED-PDS. Later, it was called the Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus (PDS).
In what used to be East Germany, the PDS was very popular. It won many votes in state elections there. The party also had a small group of members in the German parliament. However, it was not very successful in Western Germany.
In the early 2000s, Germany saw many changes to job rules. There were also changes to how people in need received help. Many people felt these changes hurt poorer citizens and those without jobs. These new rules were made by the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens. These parties were usually seen as left-wing in Germany.
Because of these changes, some people left the SPD. Others from trade unions also felt unhappy. They decided to start a new group called the Electors Association for Work and Social Justice (WASG). This group was mainly in Western Germany.
Both the WASG and the PDS realized something important. They saw that they had a better chance of winning elections if they worked together. So, they decided to create a new, bigger party. This new party was named Die Linkspartei.
In the last national elections they took part in, they won seats in the parliament. In the city-state of Berlin, they even became part of the state government.
Party Goals
Die Linkspartei was a party with left-wing goals. It was the only party in the national parliament that believed jobs and people were more important. They thought this was more important than letting companies make as much money as they wanted.
They wanted more jobs to be directly managed by the government. This was different from having private companies do work for the government. They also wanted richer people to pay higher taxes. This included people who earned most of their money from investments, not from working a regular job.
The party was against fees for university studies. They also wanted Germany to have only one type of school for older students. This would replace the two or three different school types found in most German states.
Their ideas about foreign policy were similar to the Green Party's older views. They were strongly against German soldiers fighting in wars. However, they were open to German soldiers joining United Nations peacekeeping missions.
When it came to civil rights, they also shared many ideas with the Green Party.
Images for kids
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Election campaign 2005
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Federal elections results
See also
In Spanish: Partido del Socialismo Democrático para niños
