German left urges new alliance to oust Merkel

BERLIN – Reuters

File photo of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (top) talking with Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble during a session of the Parliament. REUTERS photo

The leader of Germany’s Left party urged the Social Democrats (SPD) on Aug. 4 to rethink their ban on a left-wing alliance as an opinion poll showed the three opposition parties could narrowly beat Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Sept. 22 election.

Gregor Gysi, the Left’s parliamentary leader, said in several high-profile interviews on Aug. 4 that the SPD should stop ostracizing the Left party because of its Communist past.

“I don’t see any reason that would prevent the Left party from becoming part of a government ruling in Germany one day,” Gysi told Bild am Sonntag newspaper, which published a poll putting the SPD, their Greens allies and the Left party on 46 percent, a point ahead of Merkel’s centre-right alliance.

‘Without us they’re not going to win’

“The SPD needs to understand that, without us, they’re not going to win the chancellery,” said Gysi, who indicated he had his eye on the foreign minister’s job. The Left is polling about 8 percent after winning 11.9 percent in the 2009 election.

SPD support is 25 percent, 15 points behind Merkel’s conservatives. The SPD’s Greens allies are at 13 percent, ahead of Merkel’s Free Democrat allies at 5 percent.