Dietmar Bartsch

Dietmar Gerhard Bartsch (born 31 March 1958, in Stralsund) is a German politician, former Federal Whip (Bundesgeschäftsführer) of the Party of Democratic Socialism (1997–2002, 2005–2007) and Die Linke (2007–2010) and member of the Bundestag. He is married and has two children. Since October 2015, Bartsch has served as the co-leader of Die Linke's parliamentary group, a position he holds with Sahra Wagenknecht. Bartsch represents the moderate, reformist wing of the party.

Bartsch was born and raised in the East German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. After completing his schooling at the EOS Franzburg in 1976, he began studying economics at the University of Economic Studies at Berlin-Karlshorst, graduating in 1983.

Following graduation, Bartsch joined the business department of the German daily paper Junge Welt. From 1986 till 1990, he studied at the Academy for Social Sciences at the Communist Party of the Soviet Union headquarters, before returning to Junge Welt as their business executive.

Bartsch became a member of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), the GDR's ruling party, in 1977, co-founding the Committee of Young Comrades (AGJG) in 1989. Following German Reunification, Bartsch served as the Party of Democratic Socialism's (PDS) Federal Treasurer and was later elected federal whip.

In 2002, he ran as one of four leading candidates for the PDS in the general elections. After the party failed to overcome the constitutionally-defined 5-percent-clause, sending only two representatives to the Bundestag, Bartsch's political rivals asked for his resignation as federal whip.

After declining to stand for re-selection as whip in 2002, he was nominated federal whip by PDS party chairman Lothar Bisky in 2005, and elected into office the following December. After the party`s transformation from The PDS into The Left, Bartsch continued leading the party in his role as federal whip.

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