NEW GERMAN LEFT PARTY: ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001190

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2021
TAGS: PGOV GM
SUBJECT: NEW GERMAN LEFT PARTY: ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP
BACK

REF: 05 BERLIN 4131

Classified By: Acting Pol Counselor John Lister. Reason: 1.4(b) and (d
)


1. (C) Summary. The merger of Germany's two largest leftist
parties, the Left Party.PDS and the WASG (Electoral
Alternative for Social Justice),is proceeding but with
considerable difficulty. The Berlin branch of the WASG
appears determined to run against the PDS in fall state
elections, despite a national WASG decision against such a
step. Divisions between defenders of the old East Germany
and modernizers in the PDS are also raising concerns in the
predominantly western WASG. Leaders from both parties are
pressing hard for the merger, which enjoys strong support in
the PDS but is less popular in the WASG. Whether the WASG
can enforce national decisions without a schism is unclear.
If the effort does succeed, the new Left Party could, once
consolidated, pose a political challenge to the SPD. End
Summary.

Left Party.PDS: Ideological Divisions Showing
--------------


2. (C) Latent tension between the PDS rank-and-file, largely
made up of ex-members of the old East German Communist Party,
and the modernizing leadership have grown in recent weeks as
grass roots groups have sought to rehabilitate some aspects
of the East German system. These include efforts to present
the Stasi as a "normal" intelligence agency and statements by
PDS Chairman Emeritus Modrow (the last Communist leader of
the East) arguing that West Germany shared responsibility for
the wall and the deaths of escapees. The debate on the issue
was apparent at the April 29-30 PDS national convention,
where Modrow repeated his thesis. Several younger party
leaders spoke out strongly against any defense of "Stalinism"
or efforts to blame the west for the GDR's human rights
violations. MdB Wolfgang Gehrcke acknowledged to the
convention that there was a "feeling of division" within the
party.


3. (C) Party leaders admitted concern that this debate would
harm merger efforts with the WASG. The leader of the PDS in
Saxony-Anhalt, Matthias Hoehn, told Embassy representatives
the day before the convention that if Modrow were to raise
his ideas at the convention it would create problems. Hoehn
believed that, although aging Communist cadres have lost
permanent influence, they have become more militant in the
party -- in part because of unhappiness with the merger
process with the predominantly western WASG. Since the
convention, media have quoted Axel Troost, a member of the
WASG executive, as saying that the debate in the WASG was
"not helpful" and "offers no relief" for the merger process.


WASG:


4. (U) The larger problem for the merger comes from the WASG.
That party, originally a protest movement against the Hartz
IV and Agenda 2010 reforms, unites a wide spectrum of
far-left groups. In eastern Germany, the party is generally
quite small and much more radical than in the west. Most
notably, the Berlin WASG is dominated by a Trotskyite faction
which decided to run against the PDS in state elections in
September. The WASG in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (M-VP)
has also said it will run against the PDS. Such a step is
both a legal and political threat to the merger process and
to the united PDS-WASG caucus in the Bundestag. The PDS
leadership hoped the WASG would take strong and definitive
measures to block the Berlin WASG.


5. (U) At the WASG convention, also held on April 29-30, the
focus of debate was the merger and possible disciplinary
action against the Berlin and M-VP branches. Party Chairman
and MdB Klaus Ernst and Bundestag caucus Chairman Lafontaine
spoke passionately in favor of the merger. Ernst said that
WASG was doomed to irrelevance otherwise and called on
delegates to block the Berlin and M-VP organizations. Heated
debate followed in which merger opponents received
considerable applause. Delegates voted by a clear though not
overwhelming majority of 163-121 to reject the Berlin and
M-VP plans, but the resolution's wording was not absolute.
The party leadership was authorized "to examine and, if need
be, to take all measures in order to make the will of the
Convention felt." The decision had two effects. First, that
same evening the Berlin WASG leader, Lucy Redler, said that
the Berlin would not change its plans. Second, the following
morning three members of the WASG national executive resigned
their positions in protest. Their resignation statements --
sharply critical of party leader Oscar Lafontaine in
particular -- received standing ovations. These and many

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others, including some leaders, spoke out against the
exclusion of dissident voices and the use of pressure tactics.


6. (U) The party also approved a pro-merger resolution by the
larger majority of 186-107, but that resolution was also
conditional. The WASG demanded "parity" in the merger with
the much larger Left Party.PDS; said that differences should
be "clearly marked" when the two parties failed to agree; and
called for leadership rotation and a bar on simultaneously
holding functions in the party and in parliament or
government. The WASG would like to bring other leftist
groups -- particularly globalization critics -- into the
merger process. All these conditions/proposals are likely to
be difficult for the PDS to accept.

Leadership Challenge
--------------


7. (C) The leaders of both parties (Gregor Gysi and Lothar
Bisky in the Left Party.PDS; Klaus Ernst, Ulrich Maurer and
scar Lafontaine in the WASG) are solidly behind the merger
project. Gysi and Bisky will have the easier task -- the PDS
is more organized, disciplined, and the lower ranks of the
leadership also largely share their leaders' views. The PDS
rank-and-file also are more disciplined and (perhaps
reflecting their SED past) more willing to do their leaders'
bidding. Ernst, Maurer, and Lafontaine are at the head of a
much more disparate group. Mid-level WASG functionaries have
diverse political and professional backgrounds -- there are
ex-SPDers, ex-Greens, labor union officials, long-time
far-left politicos, and also a number of PDS dissidents in
the eastern WASG. The evidence of the just-concluded
convention suggests that the leaders probably can bring most
of the party into the new Left Party, but only at significant
cost in membership and probably also after significant
compromise from the PDS.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) The future of the WASG is anything but certain. The
convention saw a number of personal attacks on the leadership
and far-reaching distrust of Bundestag members. The chaotic
and tense atmosphere was reminiscent of Germany's Green party
in its founding days twenty years ago. With the resignation
of three members of the national executive, rumors of a
schism are mounting. Nonetheless, we would still say the
odds favor a merger in some form -- though the WASG may lose
some portion of its clientele in the process. For example,
the mass resignation of MdBs from the WASG and their
adherence to the PDS has been discussed. If a merger does
happen, the new party will certainly require some months or
years to consolidate its structures and leadership. For this
reason, leaders of both parties have told us the merger must
be completed by summer 2007 -- well before the next federal
elections and nearly a year before several important state
elections in 2008. If the merger is successful, the new Left
Party could pose a significant challenge to the SPD by
siphoning off left-wing voters. Indeed, this already appears
to have taken place in the 2005 Bundestag election. End
Comment.
CLOUD