German Socialists Lose Leader in Fight over Orientation

The head of the left-wing Party of Democratic Socialism Gabi Zimmer, announced on Wednesday she would step down as soon as the PDS, the successor to communist East Germany's ruling SED party, could hold a special meeting to find a new leader. Zimmer, 48, fell victim to a bitter internal power struggle between traditionalists and reformers that is threatening to tear the party apart.

Zimmer, who has held the top job since October 2000, said internal party developments had brought her to the decision. She added she hoped her resignation would bring about a "new start" in both the positions and personnel of the PDS, which has been struggling to define a role for itself on the German political landscape and has been hemorrhaging voters in the last several elections.

"The PDS has simply failed to come up with a political platform that is interesting to the German voters," Gero Neugebauer, political scientist at Berlin's Free University told DW-WORLD, "and now Gabi Zimmer has found she can no longer fulfill her duties as head of the party."

Two Entrenched Factions

That failure is in part due to the development of two rival camps in the party, which are reflected in the party's executive committee and have lead to the party's near paralyzation since last fall.

One group, the so-called reformers, wants to orient the party toward "Realpolitik" and work within the parliamentary system to be actively involved in the development of policy. The other faction, made up largely of traditional Stalinists and left-wing social democratic apostates from western Germany, see the PDS future as one of an uncompromising protest party espousing far-left positions that often have little chance of being turned into political reality.

While Zimmer got backing from the traditionalists as recently as one year ago when she fought off a challenge to her leadership, her one-time allies have since turned against her. The last straw for Zimmer was a strategy paper she presented at the end of April which was to serve as a basis for a counterproposal to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's controversial economic and social reform plans. Members of the traditionalist wing of the party executive quashed Zimmer's draft plan.

"She was pulverized by people in the executive committee," said Neugebauer. "Resignation was the only thing she could do."

Return of the Old Guard?

Now the question confronting the party is who will lead it next, and a debate has broken out over whether to bring back an old familiar figure or present a younger, fresher face. Zimmer's predecessor as PDS chief, Lothar Bisky, said he would be willing to return to the ring if needed. Even Gregor Gysi (photo), probably the country's best known PDS member and former economics senator in Berlin, was mentioned as a possible candidate.

But most analysts say that would be a step in the wrong direction. "It's about as intelligent as using voodoo to resuscitate a dead body," said Free University's Neugebauer.

Even PDS members are cautioning against returning to the old guard, even though party members like Gysi and Bisky have name recognition that few other members of the party enjoy.

"Playing musical chairs with members who have been around for some 13 years isn't going to get us anywhere anymore," said Peter Porsch, Zimmer's deputy. He and other members are advocating putting a new face at the top.

Who that new face might be will likely be decided at a party meeting this summer. Zimmer has requested that the party meet at the end of July to elect her successor. But even deciding on the date is falling victim to internal dissent. Zimmer's opponent on the executive committee and leader of the traditionalists, Diether Dehm, has called for a ten-week cooling off period before a new head is elected. If the party goes ahead and meets in July, he and others in his camp have threatened to contest any decision.

Quo Vadis PDS?

The fight over the party's future direction threatens to tear it apart, according to Petra Pau (photo, right), one of the two PDS parliamentarians sitting in the Bundestag. Unless the party can convince voters it has its own house in order, she said, it will lose credibility with the voters.

Looking at recent poll results, that process seems to be already underway.

In the 1998 federal elections, the PDS got 5.1 percent of the vote and with it, 37 members sitting in parliament. But in the last federal election in 2002, that percentage dropped to 4 percent which robbed the PDS of its official party status and left just two lonely PDS parliamentarians relegated to the back of the chamber. The party's flagging fortunes are little better on the local level. From 22 percent a year and a half ago, only 9 percent of Berliners marked PDS on their ballots in the last election.

After the recent election debacles, many analysts said the PDS was condemned to becoming a regional party of the East.

There's no question that that is going to be the fate of the PDS over the next ten year," Neugebauer told DW-WORLD. "The question is whether it can eventually agree on a platform that speaks to voters across Germany. The outlook isn't very good."

In fact, in surveys over the past year, the PDS has consistently polled under four percent and there is nothing to indicate that the number of Germans willing to vote for the PDS will climb anytime soon.

Some have suggested that the PDS might be able to draw voters from the left side of the ruling Social Democrats and the Greens, many of whom are feeling disillusioned with Schröder's reform plans that they claim will dismantle Germany's welfare state.

"The PDS could possibly siphon off some protest votes," Neugebauer said. "But that will only a temporary solution. It's nothing that will save the party in the long run."