2024-08-25 03:14:32
Bodo Ramelow is Germany’s first left-wing prime minister. With the state elections in early September, that could be over. How does the exceptional leftist want to prevent that?
Ramelow has never made a secret of what he wants: to become the first Left Party Prime Minister in Germany. He achieved this in 2014. Since then, with a brief interruption in February 2020 – after the controversial election of Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) as Prime Minister – he has led a red-red-green coalition.
But that could soon be over. His minority government currently has less than 30 percent of the vote, and the Greens will probably no longer be represented in the next state parliament. For the Left politician, this will most likely mean the end of his career. Nevertheless, he is still counting on the “Ramelow effect”. What drives him?
Profession: Prime Minister of Thuringia, previously: Federal and State Parliament Member. Previously: Trade Union Official
Birthday: 16 February 1956
Place of birth: Osterholz-Scharmbeck (Lower Saxony)
Marital status: married for the third time, two sons from the first marriage
Vocational training: trained retail salesman
For the classic values of the Left Party – especially social justice. Cheaper housing, free childcare, more social participation for the disadvantaged. He says of himself that he is a socialist and a Christian. The native of Lower Saxony, who came to Thuringia as a trade union official after the fall of the Berlin Wall, only partially fits the common cliché.
His focus in his political work is on the disparity between West and East Germany. He, who only came to the new federal states after reunification, sees them as being left behind and betrayed.
He says again and again that many people in the East feel that they are not being taken into account. East Germany has brought more to the table than the green arrow at the traffic lights and the Sandman. “We perceive that we are the losers, but in fact we are a strong part of Germany,” Ramelow said in June on rbb Inforadio.
He likes to bring up a seemingly strange demand: a vote on the Basic Law. “German unity has been economically successful, but emotionally it is currently falling apart,” Ramelow continued. The country is drifting apart again, said Ramelow. A referendum on the constitution could take the fuel off the mill of agitators, said Ramelow.
With few concrete ones. The politician advertises on posters with slogans such as “closeness and trust”, “decency” or “attitude”. The Thuringian Left is fully committed to a personal election campaign for Ramelow, even though he sharply criticized such a campaign in the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance.
The Left Party logo does not appear on 17,000 posters, a party spokesman told the “Bild” newspaper. This is also consistent with a recently published campaign ad in which Ramelow appears singing.
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There is a calculation behind this: After all, Ramelow is at 47 percent in the case of a direct election of the Prime Minister, according to a recent survey by Infratest dimap on behalf of MDR. The problem: The Prime Minister is elected by the state parliament, and this is where things look difficult for the Left. In recent surveys, Ramelow’s party is only at around 12 to 14 percent. There is therefore a blatant imbalance. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister wants to rely on the “Ramelow effect”, as he confidently calls it.
However, his party did decide on some goals in January. For example, Ramelow wants to make education and care in Thuringia completely free of contributions and fees. The politician also aims to establish a state housing company in order to ensure socially acceptable rents in the long term.
In terms of foreign policy, Ramelow is calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and is opposed to the long-range weapons that are to be stationed in Germany. These are demands that the BSW is also using in its election campaign. And they play at most a very indirect role for the Thuringians.