Overview

• In a June 19 blog post, Ramelow asked whether he was leaving Die Linke or whether the party was leaving him after growing uneasy with its new direction.
• Delegates at the Ilmenau conference voted to swap out Thuringia’s top leadership and enforce strict separation of party and public offices.
• Ramelow criticized calls for a sharp ideological course change, a formal review of Die Linke’s decade in government and a proposed cap on members of parliament’s incomes.
• He warned against the party becoming an isolated “fun party” or an exclusive “elite party” and urged a renewed focus on improving living conditions for all.
• Die Linke has added tens of thousands of new members and secured 8.8 percent in the February federal election while its Thuringia branch slipped to 13.1 percent in last autumn’s state vote.