Oskar Lafontaine

Oskar Lafontaine
Mayor of Saarbrücken
In office 1976 – 9 April 1985
Preceded by	Fritz Schuster
Succeeded by	Hans-Jürgen Koebnick
8th Minister-President of Saarland
In office 9 April 1985 – 10 November 1998
Preceded by	Werner Zeyer
Succeeded by	Reinhard Klimmt
Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
In office 16 November 1995 – 12 March 1999
Preceded by	Rudolf Scharping
Succeeded by	Gerhard Schröder
Federal Minister of Finance
In office 27 October 1998 – 18 March 1999
Preceded by	Theodor Waigel
Succeeded by	Hans Eichel
Co-Chairman of The Left
In office 16 June 2007 – 15 May 2010 Serving with Lothar Bisky
Preceded by	New title
Succeeded by	Klaus Ernst & Gesine Lötzsch
Personal details
Born	16 September 1943 (1943-09-16) (age 68) Saarlouis-Roden, Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	Social Democratic Party (until 2005) The Left
Religion	Roman Catholic

Oskar Lafontaine (German pronunciation: [ˈlafɔntɛn]; born 16 September 1943, Saarlouis) is a German politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former Minister-President of the state of Saarland. Since 2007 he was co-chairman of The Left. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, he declared resignation from federal political functions in January 2010, citing health reasons.^[1]

Family and education

Lafontaine was born in Saarlouis into a family of craftsmen. His father, Hans Lafontaine, was a professional baker and was killed serving in World War II. He spent his childhood living with his mother, Catherine, and twin brother, Hans, in Dillingen.

Lafontaine attended a Catholic episcopal boarding institution in Prüm and there was educated at the Regino-Gymnasium, a public school. He left school in 1962 and received a scholarship from Cusanuswerk, the scholarship body of the Catholic Church in Germany, to study physics at the universities of Bonn and Saarland. Lafontaine graduated in 1969; his thesis concerned the production of barium titanate crystals. He worked for Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Saarbrücken until 1974, serving on its board from 1971.

He is currently married to his third wife, Christa Müller, who leads a campaign against genital mutilation in Africa. The couple have two sons. Lafontaine is a Roman Catholic.^[2]

Political rise

Lafontaine rose to prominence locally as mayor of Saarbrücken and became more widely known as a critic of chancellor Helmut Schmidt's support for the NATO plan to deploy Pershing II missiles in Germany. From 1985 to 1998 he served as prime minister of the Saarland. In this position he struggled to preserve the industrial base of the state, which was based on steel production and coal mining with subsidies, and served as President of the Bundesrat in 1992/93.

Chancellor candidacy

Lafontaine election poster, 1990

Lafontaine was the SPD's candidate for Chancellor in the German federal election of 1990 following the reunification of Germany. During the campaign he was attacked with a knife by a mentally deranged woman after a speech in Cologne. His carotid artery was slashed and he remained in a critical condition for several days.

Political comeback

At the "Mannheim convention" in 1995, he was elected chairman of the SPD in a surprise move, replacing Rudolf Scharping. He was mainly responsible for bringing the whole political weight of the SPD to bear against Helmut Kohl and his CDU party, rejecting bipartisan cooperation that had characterized German politics for many years. Lafontaine argued that any help given to Kohl would only lengthen his unavoidable demise.

After this strategy gave the SPD an unexpectedly clear victory at the polls in September 1998, he was appointed Federal Minister of Finance in the first government of Gerhard Schröder.

Minister of Finance

During his short tenure as Minister of Finance, Lafontaine was a main bogeyman of UK Eurosceptics. This was because, among other things, he had called for the prompt tax harmonisation of the European Union, which would have resulted in an increase in UK taxes. In 1998, English tabloid "The Sun" called Lafontaine "Europe's most dangerous man". On 11 March 1999, he resigned from all his official and party offices, claiming that "lack of cooperation" in the cabinet had become unbearable. Until the formation of the Left Party he was known for his attacks against the Schroeder government in the tabloid Bild-Zeitung which is generally considered conservative.

Leaving the SPD/Formation of The Left party

On 24 May 2005 Lafontaine left the SPD. After two weeks of speculation it was announced on 10 June that he would run as the lead candidate for The Left party (Die Linke), a coalition of the Labor and Social Justice Party (WASG), which is based in western Germany, and the Left Party. PDS, which was the successor to the ruling East German Socialist Unity Party (SED).^[3] Lafontaine joined the WASG on 18 June 2005 and was selected to head their list for the 2005 Federal Election in North Rhine-Westphalia on the same day. Moreover he also unsuccessfully contested the Saarbrücken constituency. Nevertheless, the result of the Linkspartei in the Saarland was by far the best in any of the federal states in the West of Germany.

In 2007, when the Left Party was formed in a merger between 'Left Party.PDS' and WASG, he became chairman alongside Lothar Bisky.

In May 2009, he declared that "Financial capitalism has failed. We need to democratize the economy. The workforce needs to have a far greater say in their companies than has been the case so far."^[4]

Criticism

An article by Lafontaine on Erich Honecker, state and party leader of the German Democratic Republic and a fellow Saarlander, in the magazine Der Spiegel was criticised as laudatory by many observers. In the late 1980s and early 90s he tarnished his left-wing credentials with a plea for pro-business policies and a call for the reduction of the influx of Germans from Eastern Europe and asylum-seekers.

In contrast to his public socialist political ideology, Lafontaine lives in a manor-like house, commonly known as the "palace of social justice" (Palast der sozialen Gerechtigkeit).^[5] However, when asked about it, Lafontaine said politicians of the Left don't have to be poor, but they have to fight against poverty.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Rückzug als Linken-Chef" (in German). Spiegel Online. 23 January 2010. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,673625,00.html. Retrieved 24 January 2010. 
2. ^ Deutscher Bundestag: Lafontaine, Oskar
3. ^ FT.com / Europe – New leftwing alliance to challenge SPD
4. ^ Interview with Left Party Leader Oskar Lafontaine: 'We Want to Overthrow Capitalism' – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International
5. ^ http://www.n-tv.de/569041.html
6. ^ Linkspartei: Der Charmeur und der Chef – Bücher – Feuilleton – FAZ.NET

External links

• (German) www.die-linke.de – The German Left Party
• (German) Oskar Lafontaine Information on the website of the parliamentary group Die Linke
• Will Germany Go Left of the Left? by Markus Deggerich, Der Spiegel, Sept 25 2009

Political offices
Preceded by Fritz Schuster	Mayor of Saarbrücken 1976–1985	Succeeded by Hans-Jürgen Koebnick (SPD)
Preceded by Werner Zeyer (CDU)	Minister president of Saarland 1985–1998	Succeeded by Reinhard Klimmt (SPD)
Preceded by Theodor Waigel (CSU)	German Minister of Finance 1998–1999	Succeeded by Hans Eichel (SPD)
Party political offices
Preceded by Rudolf Scharping	Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1995–1999	Succeeded by Gerhard Schröder
Preceded by New title	Co-Chairman of the Left Party 2007–2010 With Lothar Bisky	Succeeded by Klaus Ernst & Gesine Lötzsch

Persondata
Name	Lafontaine, Oskar
Alternative names
Short description	German politician
Date of birth	16 September 1943
Place of birth	Saarlouis-Roden, Germany
Date of death
Place of death