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Runner profile for Peter Lafontaine in Tolland Connecticut runningmyraces.com | for Univ. - Doz. Dr. med. Oskar... endconsumer.org |
Oskar Lafontaine (German pronunciation: [ˈlafɔntɛn]; born September 16, 1943, Saarlouis) is a German politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former prime minister of the state of Saarland. Currently he is co-chairman of The Left.
[edit] Family and educationLafontaine 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 was educated at the Regino-Gymnasium, a Catholic boarding school in Prüm. 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.[1] [edit] Political riseLafontaine 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. [edit] Chancellor candidacy 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. [edit] Political comebackAt 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. [edit] Minister of FinanceDuring his short tenure as Minister of Finance, Lafontaine was a main bogeyman of UK Eurosceptics. The 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. On March 11, 1999, he resigned from all his official and party offices, claiming that "lack of cooperation" in the cabinet had become unbearable. More recently he has become known for his attacks against the current German government in the tabloid Bild-Zeitung which is generally considered conservative. [edit] Leaving the SPD/Formation of The Left partyOn May 24, 2005 Lafontaine left the SPD. After two weeks of speculation it was announced on June 10 that he would run as the lead candidate for The Left party (Die Linkspartei), 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).[2] Lafontaine joined the WASG on June 18, 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."[3] [edit] CriticismAn article by Lafontaine on Erich Honecker, state and party leader of the German Democratic Republic and a fellow Saarländer, 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).[4] However, when asked about it, Lafontaine said politicians of the Left don't have to be poor, but they have to fight against poverty.[5] [edit] References
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Categories: Ministers-President of Saarland | Politicians of the Social Democratic Party of Germany | 1943 births | Living people | People from the District of Saarlouis | Anti-corporate activists | Finance ministers of Germany | German anti-war activists | The Left (Germany) politicians | German Roman Catholics | Germans of French descent | Leaders of political parties | Members of the German Bundestag | German political candidates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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