Germany's conservative left

Last weekend the East German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the West German Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice (WASG) joined forces to become "The Left" party, thus expanding Germany's political party spectrum for the first time since the founding of the Greens. Eric Grujer takes a critical view of the new party's potential for reform. "Seldom has a party carried a name so undeservedly. The concept of the left is associated with progressive ideas and the desire to progressively change prevailing conditions. 'The Left', however, is conservative. It wants to maintain the kind of social welfare state that existed in the 1970s in West Germany. It clings to the model of an interventionist state with a large public sector that is more in keeping with the traditions of the second half of the last century. The demographic profile of the new party also fits in with its ideological backwardness: grey hairs feature prominently among both the members of the PDS and those of the WASG."

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