welcome to the official English-language website of the DIE LINKE (The Left) Germany.

As a socialist party, DIE LINKE stands for alternatives, for a better future. We are a new left party, a democratic socialist left, comprised of those of different political, ideological and religious backgrounds, of women and men, old and young, immigrants, those with disabilities. We hold strong to the dream that a better world is possible.

Our goal is concrete: we fight for a society in which no child grows up poor, in which everyone can live a self-determined life in peace, dignity and welfare. We fight for a society where social relations are shaped democratically. To achieve this, we need a different economic and social system: democratic socialism.

We do not accept a world in which profit interests determine the future of millions of men and women and in which exploitation, war and imperialism deprives entire countries of hope and a better future. Where profit rules above all else, there can be little space for democracy.

Our movement is based on the the traditions of democracy and socialism, on the struggles for human rights and emancipation, against fascism and racism, imperialism and militarism. We aim to overcome all social relationships in which people are exploited, disenfranchised and deprived of the right to make their own decisions and in which the social and natural foundations of their lives are destroyed.

We believe in global cooperation rather than the concept that might makes right. A world under the diktat of omnipotent global capitalism is not a world worth striving for. Business and politics should be centred around the the vital needs and interests of the majority of the people.

We want to help turn passive resentment into active resistance. Democracy, freedom, equality, justice, internationalism and solidarity are our fundamental values. They are inseparable from peace, the preservation of nature and the emancipation of humankind. We are fighting for this change because capitalism, based on inequality, exploitation, expansion and competition, is incompatible with these goals.

We have united to form a new political force that stands for freedom and equality, fights resolutely for peace, is democratic and social, environmentalist and feminist, open and plural, challenging and tolerant. Together with citizens of Germany, Europe and from throughout the world, with trade unions and movements, we are looking for alternative solutions. We want to build a society of democratic socialism in which the reciprocal recognition of everyone’s freedom and equality is the basis for development. We are fighting for a change of course in politics that will open the way for a fundamental transformation of society that will overcome capitalism. (Extracts from the Preamble of the Party Programme)