The German Heinz Bierbaum (Die Linke) was elected (98 votes to 33, 16 abstentions) after the 6th Congress of the Party of the European Left (PEL) on Sunday 15 December as President of the European party, succeeding his compatriot Gregor Gysi.
Heinz Bierbaum, 73, is currently in charge of international relations for the German left-wing party Die Linke. Previously, he was General Secretary of the powerful IG Metall trade union in the Frankfurt region and Regional Deputy for the Saarland, as well as Vice-President of Die Linke.
This multilingual doctor of economics acknowledged during his speech that the PEL was in a “difficult situation”, particularly since the European elections. For him, this setback demands a “critical evaluation of the party’s future orientation” to present a “credible alternative” to the current European project.
For the politician, one of the major tasks of the PEL is to integrate new left-wing forces, while maintaining a “coherent political message”, by explicitly mentioning La France insoumise. To do this, he wants to rely a little more on the European Forum of Progressive Forces (see EUROPE 12367/4). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)