Oskar Lafontaine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Lafontaine in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theSocial Democratic Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 16 November 1995 – 12 March 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Rudolf Scharping | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gerhard Schröder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader ofThe Left | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 16 June 2007 – 15 May 2010 Serving with Lothar Bisky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Position established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Klaus Ernst | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Finance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 27 October 1998 – 18 March 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Gerhard Schröder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Theodor Waigel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Hans Eichel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of the Saarland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 April 1985 – 9 November 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Werner Zeyer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Reinhard Klimmt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of theBundesrat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 November 1992 – 31 October 1993 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Vice President | Berndt Seite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Berndt Seite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Klaus Wedemeier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lord Mayor ofSaarbrücken | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 22 January 1976 – 9 April 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Fritz Schuster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Hans-Jürgen Koebnick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1943-09-16)16 September 1943 (age 82) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | BSW (2023–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | SPD (1966–2005) WASG (2005–2007) The Left (2007–2022) Independent (2022–2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Merzig-Silwingen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Saarland University (Diplom) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part ofa series on |
| Socialism in Germany |
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Oskar Lafontaine (German pronunciation:[ˈɔskaʁlafõˈtɛːn,-fɔnˈ-]; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state ofSaarland from 1985 to 1998 and was federal leader of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) from 1995 to 1999. He was the lead candidate for the SPD in the1990 German federal election, but lost by a wide margin. He served as Minister of Finance under ChancellorGerhard Schröder after the SPD's victory in the1998 federal election, but resigned from both the ministry and Bundestag less than six months later, positioning himself as a popular opponent of Schröder's policies in the tabloid press.
In the lead-up to the2005 federal election, as a reaction to Schröder'sAgenda 2010 reforms, Lafontaine co-founded the left-wing partyLabour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. Following a merger with theParty of Democratic Socialism in June 2007, he became co-chairman ofThe Left. He was the lead candidate for the Saarland branch of the party in the2009 Saarland state election, where it won over 20% of the vote. He announced his resignation from all federal political functions after being diagnosed withprostate cancer in 2009.[1] He retained his position as a member of the Saarland legislature and from May 2012 to 2022 he was the leader of the opposition in Saarland. Lafontaine resigned from the Left Party on 17 March 2022 because it was no longer an "alternative to the politics of social insecurity and inequality," he said.[2]
Lafontaine was born in Saarlautern (nowSaarlouis) into a family of craftsmen. His father, Hans Lafontaine, was a professional baker and was killed serving inWorld War II. He spent his childhood living with his mother, Katharina (née Ferner), and his twin brother, Hans, inDillingen.
He attended a Catholic episcopal boarding institution inPrüm and there was educated at the Regino-Gymnasium, a public school. He left school in 1962 and received a scholarship fromCusanuswerk, the scholarship body of theCatholic Church in Germany, to studyphysics at the universities ofBonn andSaarland. Lafontaine graduated in 1969; his thesis concerned the production ofmonocrystallinebarium titanate. He worked forVersorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Saarbrücken until 1974, serving on its board from 1971.
Lafontaine has been married four times and has two sons by his second and third wives. Lafontaine was married to Ingrid Bachert from 1967 to 1982. From 1982 to 1988 he was married to the artist Margret Müller. Together they have a son (Frederic, born 1982). From 1993 to 2013 he was married to Christa Müller. They have a son together (Carl-Maurice, born 1997). In November 2011, Lafontaine officially presented fellow politicianSahra Wagenknecht as his new girlfriend, who is 26 years his junior.[3] Since 22 December 2014 they have been married.[4] He is anon-practising Catholic.[5]
Lafontaine rose to prominence locally as mayor ofSaarbrücken and became more widely known as a critic ofchancellorHelmut Schmidt's support for theNATO plan to deployPershing II missiles in Germany. From 1985 to 1998 he served asMinister-President of theSaarland. In this position he struggled to preserve the industrial base of the state, which was based on steel production and coal mining withsubsidies, and served asPresident of theBundesrat in 1992/93.
Lafontaine was the SPD's candidate for Chancellor in theGerman federal election of 1990. He faced nearly impossible odds. The election had been called two months after thereunification of Germany, and the incumbent government ofHelmut Kohl was in a nearly unassailable position.
During the campaign he was attacked with a knife by a mentally deranged woman after a speech inCologne. Hiscarotid artery was slashed and he remained in a critical condition for several days.
At the "Mannheim convention" in 1995, he was elected chairman of the SPD in a surprise move, replacingRudolf Scharping. He was mainly responsible for bringing the whole political weight of the SPD to bear against Kohl and hisCDU 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 the SPD's unexpectedly clear victory at the polls in September 1998, he was appointedFederal Minister of Finance in the first government ofGerhard Schröder.
During his short tenure as Minister of Finance, Lafontaine was a mainbogeyman of UKEurosceptics. This was because, among other things, he had called for the prompt tax harmonisation of theEuropean Union, which would have resulted in an increase in UK taxes.[6] In 1998, English tabloidThe Sun called Lafontaine "Europe's most dangerous man". On 11 March 1999, he resigned from all his official and party offices, claiming that "lack of cooperation" in the cabinet had become unbearable. Until the formation of the Left Party he was known for his attacks against the Schröder government in thetabloidBild-Zeitung, which is generally consideredconservative.
On 24 May 2005 Lafontaine left the SPD. After two weeks of speculation it was announced on 10 June that he would run as the lead candidate forThe Left party (Die Linke), a coalition of theLabor and Social Justice Party (WASG), which was based in western Germany, and theLeft Party.PDS, which was the successor to the rulingEast GermanSocialist Unity Party (SED).[7] Lafontaine joined the WASG on 18 June 2005 and was selected to head their list for the2005 Federal Election in North Rhine-Westphalia on the same day. Moreover, he also unsuccessfully contested theSaarbrücken constituency, which he had previously represented from 1990 to 2002. Nevertheless, the result of the Left party 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 alongsideLothar 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."[8]
In 2022, he published the bookAmi, it's time to go where he criticizesNATO and American influence in German politics, arguing that Germany has become an Americanvassal state. The book became a bestseller.[9][10]
In 2024, Lafontaine announced that he had joined theBündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW).[11] On 27 January 2024 he spoke at the founding party congress.[12][13]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he caused controversy among his left-wing base with a plea for pro-business policies and a call for the reduction of immigrants andasylum-seekers.
At one event in 2005, Lafontaine describedFremdarbeiter ("foreign workers", a term associated with the Nazi regime) as a threat to German labour. He said afterwards that he had misspoken, but in an article published inDie Welt, a group of prominent German writers accused him of deliberately appealing toxenophobic andfar-right voters.[14]
Lafontaine lives in a manor-like house, commonly known as the "palace of social justice" (Palast der sozialen Gerechtigkeit).[15] When asked by theFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about whether this could be in conflict with his socialist ideas, Lafontaine said politicians of the left do not have to be poor, but they have to fight against poverty.[16]
In a column published by the same newspaper Lafontaine criticized the expansion of wind power, citing the alleged "destruction of the German cultural landscape" as a cause for his objection.[17] TheAlliance 90/The Greens top candidate Barbara Meyer-Gluche pushed back at this stance and accused Lafontaine of "irrational fearmongering".[18]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fritz Schuster | Mayor ofSaarbrücken 1976–1985 | Succeeded by Hans-Jürgen Koebnick (SPD) |
| Preceded by Werner Zeyer (CDU) | Minister-President ofSaarland 1985–1998 | Succeeded by Reinhard Klimmt (SPD) |
| Preceded by | GermanMinister of Finance 1998–1999 | Succeeded by Hans Eichel (SPD) |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1995–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by New title | Co-Chairman of theLeft Party 2007–2010 WithLothar Bisky | Succeeded by |
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