and to raise enough money for an election campaign by the originally scheduled election date (some time in September 2006), it now faced the difficulty of an early election one year ahead of schedule – occurring on the date of 18 September 2005. Polls predicted an election result of at most 3% for the new party, well below the electoral threshold of 5%. In that situation, the idea of an electoral coalition with the ideologically similar Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), led by Gregor Gysi, was put forward by Oskar Lafontaine. On 10 June 2005, the leaderships of WASG and the PDS agreed to form an electoral alliance for the then-upcoming federal elections in September 2005. According to the agreement, the parties would not compete against one another in any district, and followed a joint electoral manifesto. This was intended to benefit both parties, because the WASG was based primarily in western Germany, while the PDS, which was the legal successor to the East German Socialist Unity Party (SED), was strongest in the East. Lafontaine, the former chairman of the SPD, was the WASG's lead candidate. After a multitude of initial problems due to the somewhat restrictive German electoral law, the PDS re-christened itself as Die Linkspartei (The Left Party) and appeared on the ballot as either Die Linkspartei.PDS – in the Eastern states – or Die Linkspartei. – in the Western states – in line with the WASG's wishes. WASG candidates appeared on those electoral lists. As of 5 July 2005, the coalition was at 30% in the polls in the East (level with the CDU there), and 11% nationally. In the Federal Election the Left Party gained 8.7% of the votes and 54 Members of the Bundestag, including 12 of the WASG. In March 2006, however, divisions emerged between the WASG and the PDS – now The Left Party.PDS – in Berlin and the East more generally, in the run-up to state elections, due to the continuing involvement of the PDS with the SPD in coalition governments which were instituting cut-backs. The WASG Berlin, against advice or pressure from the national party leadership, announced its intention to run separate lists in Berlin against the PDS. The WASG list won 2.9% of the vote in the 17 September elections. The fusion process brought a significant loss in party memberships of WASG. See also Politics of Germany References External links