Germany Follow

A rolling programme of strike action by public sector workers across Germany, which started on Monday of this week threatens to destabilise the neo-liberal agenda of the country’s recently elected "grand coalition" government.

The breakthrough at the general election, with the 54 MPs for the Left Party returned, was a great advance for the left.

Germany's radical left is facing a new challenge. Last week the conservative CDU and CSU parties came to an agreement with the centre left SPD, similar to Britain’s Labour Party, to form a "grand coalition" government.

The formation of a "grand coalition" government of the social democrats and Tories in Germany is a sign of the crisis gripping Europe’s elites.

Political paralysis, a big fall in the value of the euro and talk of a policy vacuum showed that Europe's bosses suffered a serious setback following the general election results in Germany.

The election in Germany has plunged the political establishment into crisis and has led to the biggest breakthrough of a radical left force since the Second World War. Gerhard Schröder’s SPD, similar to Britain’s New Labour, stood with a programme defending hated measures to attack the welfare state — Agenda 2010 and Hartz IV. The Tory CDU and its would-be coalition partners, the FDP, had programmes saying they would implement even harsher neo-liberal measures.

For the first time since the 1950s there is a nationwide political force to the left of the SPD.

‘The German elections give a big new impetus to the Party of the European Left. The Left Party successfully accomplished an unprecedented achievement in the history of post-war Germany — mass support given to a party which places itself to the left of the the continent’s biggest social democracy.

The hung parliament that emerged from the German federal elections is a serious setback for the forces seeking to impose yet more free market "reforms" on us all.

Ever Since its launch in July, Linkspartei has been picking up significant support across the German working class. This has predictably led to a concerted smear campaign against Oskar Lafontaine, the party’s best known leader.

"The left is back. The pact between WASG and PDS under the leadership of Gregor Gysi and Oskar Lafontaine has the potential to change the balance of forces in the political system forever." The editorial of the conservative newspaper Welt am Sonntag on the formation of a new political party tells of the sea change in German politics.

By 10am Friday morning 1,000 people had defied all obstacles to come to the delayed opening rally of Marxism 2005. After a minute's silence for all those killed in the London bombings and in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, they heard powerful and moving speeches from veteran socialist Tony Benn, Stop the War Coalition convenor Lindsey German, Respect MP George Galloway and Portuguese Left Bloc MP, Ana Drago.