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Petra Pau | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Pau in 2022 | |
| Vice President of the Bundestag (on proposal of The Left-faction) | |
| In office 7 April 2006 – 25 March 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Bodo Ramelow |
| Member of theBundestag forBerlin | |
| Assumed office 26 October 2021 | |
| Constituency | The Left List |
| In office 26 October 1998 – 26 October 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Stefan Heym(1995) |
| Succeeded by | Mario Czaja |
| Constituency | Marzahn-Hellersdorf (1998–2002: Mitte – Prenzlauer Berg) |
| Member of theAbgeordnetenhaus of Berlin | |
| In office 30 November 1995 – October 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Werner Krause |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency | Hellersdorf 3 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1963-08-09)9 August 1963 (age 62) |
| Political party | The Left PDS (1989–2007) SED (1983–1989) |
| Website | petrapau |
Petra Pau (born 9 August 1963) is a German politician ofThe Left. She has been a member of theBundestag since 1998. Since 2006, she has also served as one of theVice Presidents of the Bundestag, being the first member of her party to hold this office. Pau belongs to the reform-oriented wing of her party, actively supporting parliamentary representative democracy.
Pau's first involvement in politics came in 1983 when she joined theSocialist Unity Party (SED), the governing party ofEast Germany. She worked as a functionary for theFree German Youth as a leader of the East Germanpioneers.[1] After German reunification, the SED became theParty of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and she was elected as a PDS member to the Borough Assembly ofHellersdorf inEastern Berlin in October 1990. She became district chairwoman of the PDS branch in Hellersdorf in October 1991, and was elected chairwoman of the Berlin PDS association in October 1992. From 2000 to 2002, she was deputy chairwoman of the federal party.
She was elected to the state parliament of Berlin in 1995, and remained a member until 1998, when she was elected to the Bundestag for the Berlin Mitte – Prenzlauer Berg constituency. Controversial boundary changes abolished this constituency and for the 2002 election, she contestedBerlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf, regarded as a safe seat for the PDS.[2] She was elected for that constituency and became one of only two members of the Bundestag for her party, which fell below the 5%electoral threshold. The new Left party regained proportional representation in 2005, in part due to Pau being reelected in Marzahn-Hellersdorf and the Left winning two other constituency seats.[3] A party that wins at least three constituency seats qualifies for proportional representation even if it falls below the threshold.
Pau retained the constituency in 2009, 2013, and 2017, but was defeated in 2021 byCDU candidateMario Czaja. She nonetheless reentered the Bundestag on the Left party list.[4]
After the2005 federal election, the Left group offeredLothar Bisky as their candidate forVice President of the Bundestag, but he failed to win a majority after four rounds of voting. They subsequently put forward Pau, who was elected on the first ballot. She has been reelected asVice President in each subsequent term. Since the 2013 term, she has been the longest-servingVice President.[5]
Speaking of her upbringing, Pau said: "Of course my past is typical for someone who grew up in the GDR. I was a teacher andPioneer leader in East Berlin. It is my past which drives me today in my commitment to a democratic society, and I reject any suggestion that this is not the case or even possible." In her capacity asVice President, she seeks to be impartial but notapolitical, and champions civil rights and democracy.[5]
On 11 October 2024, Pau declared she would not run again for the Bundestag.[6]
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