The Left (Germany) - Internal Caucuses

Internal Caucuses

The Left Party has a number of internal caucuses, most often referred to as platforms or forums.

• The Anti-capitalist Left (Antikapitalistische Linke) represents those critical of participation in coalition governments. They believe that government participation should be dependent on a set of minimum criteria (including no privatizations, no war involvement, and no cuts in social welfare spending). The grouping seeks to position the party firmly against any form of capitalism. Prominent representatives of this group are Sahra Wagenknecht, Tobias Pflüger, Cornelia Hirsch, and Ulla Jelpke.

• The Communist Platform (German: Kommunistische Plattform, KPF) was originally formed as a tendency of the PDS. It is less critical of German Democratic Republic than other groupings, and it upholds orthodox Marxist positions. A "strategic goal" of the KPF is "building a new socialist society, using the positive experiences of real socialism and to learn from mistakes" Its primary leader is Sahra Wagenknecht, who is on the National Committee of the Left Party. As of May 2008 the Platform had around 961 members —around 1% of the party's national membership.

• The Socialist Left (Sozialistische Linke) was formed in August 2006 and includes keynesian economics-leftists and reform communists, as well as the revolutionary socialist current Marx21. The group seeks to orient the party toward the labour movement. Many leaders of the Socialist Left were former members of the WASG. Socialist Left sympathizes with the Dutch Socialist Party and the Italian Communist Refoundation Party.

• The Emancipatory Left (Emanzipatorische Linke, Ema.Li) is a current that endorses libertarian socialist principles. It backs a decentralized society and support social movements. Ema.Li's spokespersons are Julia Bonk (member of parliament in Saxony) and Christoph Spehr, spokesman of The Left in Bremen. Other representatives are the vice Chairwoman of the party Katja Kipping and Caren Lay.

• The Reform Left Network (Netzwerk Reformlinke) was originally formed in 2003 as a tendency in the PDS. It promotes social-democratic positions and supports cooperation with the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Alliance 90/The Greens. A prominent member of the network is Petra Pau, vice president of the Bundestag.

• The Democratic Socialist Forum (Forum demokratischer Sozialismus) is a democratic socialist faction that was originally part of the PDS. It supports participation in state coalition governments and is programmatically close to the Reform Left Network.

In addition to the main platforms, a number of far-left groups have aligned with the Left Party and its predecessors, the PDS and WASG, including Linksruck (now known as Marx21). The Trotskyist Socialist Alternative has also joined, but the applications of some of its leaders, including Lucy Redler, for party membership were initially rejected (Redler has since become a member). Der Funke, supporters of the International Marxist Tendency in Germany, pursues entrist tactics in Die Linke. Other left-wing groups, such as the German Communist Party (DKP), have formed local alliances with The Left but have not joined the party.