5-03-06, 9:43 am
The 1st Session of the 10th Congress of the Left Party.PDS was called earlier than originally planned. The main purpose was to elect a leadership having the full mandate to steer and finalize the process of building a new all-German party of the Left together with the Party of Labour and Social Justice (WASG) till July 2007. The congress had also to analyze the results of the elections in four federal states (lander) on 26 March (see our information of 28 March, 2006) and draw conclusions for two forthcoming elections in the lander of Berlin and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania in September, to decide on starting a minimum wage campaign together with the WASG and to adopt a working schedule for the rest of the year.
The congress took place in an optimistic mood caused by the marvellous result achieved in the national elections in September 2005, the successful start of work of the 53 member strong parliamentary group 'The Left' as the left-wing opposition in Bundestag, the influx of 5200 new party members in the last one year and a half, bringing the overall number to 62 000.
The congress fulfilled its tasks. Lothar Bisky was re-elected party chairman with nearly 90 Percent of the vote – a tribute to his merits in the party building process and a sign of confidence in his further leading capacity. Katja Kipping and Wolfgang Methling were re-elected, Katina Schubert newly elected as vice chairpersons of the party. Dietmar Bartsch was confirmed in his post as party secretary, Karl Holluba is the newly elected treasurer. Helmut Scholz, co-ordinator of the Executive Board of the Party of the European Left was elected as one of the new Board members. The Executive Board of 20 persons was renewed by 50 percent.
The forthcoming lander elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania on 17 September, 2006 will have a great bearing on federal politics as well. One aim of the Left must be to prevent the parties of the ruling coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD to take over two more lander governments, because that would give them a two-thirds majority in the second chamber, the Bundesrat. This is important to preserve at least some democratic influence on the federal grand coalition. Otherwise, all legislative barriers for any of its decisions would be swept away. .
The 1st Session of the 10th Congress decided to start together with the WASG on 1 May, 2006 a campaign for an official minimum wage of 8 Euro per hour. It is meant to stop the trend of permanently lowering wages to a degree that the result are people with full-time jobs they cannot make their living of. This is especially true of women, who make for 70 percent of the employees in the low wage sector. An official minimum wage is also a measure against the trend that more and more companies are staying outside the employers associations, thus ignoring wage settlements, agreed by unions and management. This is true for nearly half of the workers in Eastern and a third in Western Germany. The campaign will support demands of the trade unions. The fact that the two left-wing parties had included this demand in their election manifestos at the national elections, made even the government parties taking up the issue absolutely ignored by them in the past.
The congress, particularly party chairman Lothar Bisky as well as the chairmen of the parliamentary group Gregor Gysi and Oskar Lafontaine in their speeches, sent out a clear signal that the Left Party.PDS is fully prepared to carry the party building process with the WASG forward till its successful conclusion. They see it as a real unification of two political organizations on an equal footing, the first one of this kind carried out by political forces coming from East and West Germany since the unification of the country. The new party is to be a pluralistic body with a markedly left profile. Hopes were raised to complete the process earlier than planned. The debates within common working groups on the recently published 'Outlines' for a future party programme shall be continued with heightened intensity.
For the first time a Women's plenum was convened on the congress' eve. It is meant to become a permanently working body of women from the movements, from WASG and Left Party.PDS during the building of the new left party.
At the same weekend the WASG held its congress in Ludwigshafen. The issue of the common party building process created a special link between the two congresses. The WASG meeting was to confirm the continuation of the party building process, supported by about 80 percent of its members in a party referendum at the end of March, and to decide what to do about the intention of its lander organisations in Berlin and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to go into the lander elections in September against the Left Party.PDS, thus violating a recent agreement of the leading bodies of the two parties. Here, it is important to know that the delegates to this congress were elected at a time when the WASG had about 3000 members. Since the project to merge with the Left Party.PDS was started, the WASG membership went up to 11800 people, most of them enthusiastic supporters of the unification plan. Attempts of the WASG leadership to organize a new election of delegates before the congress were thwarted by some lander organisations. So, in fact, the majority of the present WASG members were not represented by delegates at this congress.
After heated debates the WASG congress took two decisions by considerable majorities: 1. The party building process with the Left Party.PDS was confirmed. The Executive Board was authorized to carry it on full speed. 2. The congress disapproved of the intention of the two mentioned lander organisations to go against the Left Party.PDS in the lander elections. The Executive board was charged with taking all necessary measures to prevent this.
After the decisions the two organizations concerned declared not to abandon their plans. As 3 members of the Federal Executive Board resigned and 4 more left for various reasons, the congress elected 7 new members of the Board.
International Department of the Left Party.PDS Berlin, 2 May, 2006
