What lies behind the attempts to ostracise the Left Party?
A sharp controversy has developed regarding how Germany’s established parties should deal with the Left Party, which won sufficient votes last week to enter the Hamburg state legislature. With its new presence in the Hamburg legislature, the Left Party now has representation in 10 of Germany’s 16 state parliaments. It is not only the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) that have responded in knee-jerk fashion, resorting to the crudest forms of anti-communism. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is in the throes of a fierce dispute on the question of the Left Party that threatens to tear the party apart. The controversy began following the Hesse state election five weeks ago. On the eve of the poll, it was clear that the incumbent state premier, Roland Koch (CDU), had not succeeded in mobilising support with his racist campaign based on claims of a growing number of “foreign criminals,” and he lost the election. There were insufficient votes to f
