GERMANY:LEFT PARTY leader Oskar Lafontaine has said that his new party has the most to gain from growing divisions in German society.
Quoting Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxemburg, Mr Lafontaine said the party could well be coalition kingmaker after next year's general election.
"We have the wind in our sails," said Mr Lafontaine, former leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) and a controversial finance minister.
Germany's Left Party was founded a year ago with the fusion of the ex-East German communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and SPD members disillusioned by Schröder-era reforms.
The new party has racked up an impressive series of state election results in recent months, helped by the political paralysis of Berlin's grand coalition government.
Though yet to present a party programme, Mr Lafontaine used the weekend party conference in the eastern city of Cottbus to call for a €50 billion spending programme for education, healthcare and the environment.
With growing resentment in Germany over social issues, the Left's promises could help it become Germany's third-strongest party after next year's general election. Behind the weekend show of solidarity, clenched fists and strains of The Internationale, however, the Left Party remains a house divided.
Mr Lafontaine's high profile and fiery personality transformed the party from an eastern political force into a nationwide phenomenon, but eastern members are increasingly uncomfortable with his mercurial style. This was reflected in a 10 point drop in his re-election vote, to 78 per cent, yesterday.
"He really needs to make more of an effort to bring other people along with him," said Wolfgang Methling, an ex-PDS minister from Rostock.
Western members worry, meanwhile, that Stasi allegations surrounding eastern party figures will poison the party's appeal in western states.
"We were united a year ago, but we're still not allied," said Gregor Gysi, the Left's parliamentary leader, who was forced at the weekend to deny allegations that he informed on high-profile clients to the Stasi.
Regardless of internal divisions, the Left Party still has Germany's other political parties worried.
Leading Christian Democrat (CDU) Jürgen Rüttgers warned at the weekend that it was no longer possible to ignore it. "We can only win back the protest voters who go over to the Left Party if we take their theses seriously," he said.