Leftist disarray
January 16, 2010
The general secretary of Germany's Left party, Dietmar Bartsch, announced on Friday he will step down in May after being criticized for alleged disloyalty to party leader Oskar Lafontaine.
Bartsch has reportedly suggested that Lafontaine is having an affair.
Bartsch that he would not run for re-election, and wanted to steer the party's path "away from a personal debate, free to make policy."
The relationship between Bartsch and Lafontaine has long been regarded as shattered. Bartsch has been accused of spreading rumors about cancer-stricken Lafontaine in an effort to discredit his bid for re-election.
The Left Party is one of Germany's newest parties, founded in 2007 by disgruntled western German trade unionists and members of the successor to the East German Communist party. It has widespread support in the eastern part of the country and has been growing in popularity in the western part of the country.
smh/dpa/ap/afp
Editor: Kyle James