> It seems that the entire left-wing in Germany is dissolving. Schroeder's
> economic plan looks like Blairism. He even seems to want to "modernise"
the
> SDP ala New Labour. Will the left-wingers put up with that? What is
> Lafontaine doing? Won't the trade unions object? I'd be interested to
hear
> what the German listmembers think about all this. It seems to me like a
> pretty monumental event if Germany is going the way of Britain.
>
> Seth
>
Things are bad, but not that much bad.
I think outside Germany one gets a somewhat distorted picture, because
internatinal media usually only report about the 'goverment' left. And indeed
when you look at the left inside the Greens and the SPD they are pretty much
marginalised. With the resignation of Lafontaine the SPD-left lost its hero
and the lefts inside the Greens is suffering from 'colateral' war damage.
But when you just widen your view and look at the parties represented in
parliament there is still the PDS. Inside parliament they were the only voice
against the war. In the last elections they got more votes than the FDP.
Certainly the PDS has serious setbacks ( backward-looking, overaged
membership, East-centered), but they are gaining small but steady successes in the
West as well. BTW, they have their right wing reformers as well, but with the
SPD and the Greens moving right the constituency for the PDS on the left is
growing.
When it comes to the unions (and the union-wing of the SPD), at the moment
they are just hoping to come to some accord with the employers in the
framework of government-brokered talks. Until these talks are finished they will
just be mumbling and grumbling, but not to be counted as an opposition
force. But when those talks fail, they will have to decide whether to fight or
not! The decisive difference to Britain is that the Gerrman unions never
suffered a defeat like the British unions during the Thatcher times.
And we stiil have a small far left, with all sorts of sects. But look at
France, the joint LO-LCR list got over five percent in the last elections.
Just a last remark on Lafontaine. Forget about him, to me it looks like as
if he has dropped out of politics.
Johannes
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