On the National Elections to the Bundestag and the regional elections in the states of Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein
Information of the DIE LINKE. Department of International Policy
In the last federal elections in 2005 DIE LINKE.PDS with open lists and candidates from the WASG (Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit – Electoral Alternative Labour and Social Justice) reached 8.7 % of the votes and got 54 mandates. In Berlin the party won three constituencies. The Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) won by a narrow margin before the Social Democrats (SPD), which until then had run the government together with the Greens. Neither the CDU nor the SPD had a majority to form a government together with their partner of choice, the FDP (Liberals) respectively the Greens. Since all parties had excluded any co-operation with DIE LINKE, they were forced to form a so called Grand coalition.