Bodo Ramelow

Who is Bodo Ramelow?

Bodo Ramelow is a German politician of the Left Party. He is chairman of his party's group in the Landtag of Thuringia.

The former chairman of the labor union HBV, Ramelow was elected into the Landtag in the Free State of Thuringia in 1999 as a member of the Party of Democratic Socialism. There he became deputy chairman, and since 2001 he has been chairman of the PDS/Left Party's group in the Landtag.

In February 2004, Ramelow was elected top candidate of the PDS for the Thuringian State elections four months later. In June 2004 the party gained its best result in Thuringia since German reunification with 26,1% of the votes. Therefore Ramelow was re-elected as the PDS chairman in Thuringia. Starting in June 2005, Ramelow was chief negotiator during unification talks between the PDS and the WASG, a unification that resulted in the new party The Left. In September 2005 he was elected deputy chairman of The Left party in the Bundestag. In the Thuringia state election in September 2009 he led The Left to become the second biggest party with 27.4% of the votes, making him a competitor for the post of minister-president.