Photo Gallery The Spoiler
Oskar Lafontaine, born in 1943 in Saarlouis-Roden, launched into politics early on with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which he joined as a 23-year-old physics student. Just 10 years later he became mayor of Saarbrücken, a small western German state that shares a border with France. Lafontaine, who brought the SPD-Saar to an absolute majority in 1985, became known as the most talented of former SPD chancellor Willy Brandt's "grandchildren." He remained in office as governor of the state of Saarland until 1998, when Germany's new "red-green" (Social Democrat/Green Party) federal government came into power. In this photo he is shown at annual carnival festivities in Saarbrücken in 1997.
On April 25, 1990, during a campaign speech in Cologne, Lafontaine was attacked by a mentally ill woman, and suffered life-threatening stab wounds to his neck. Lafontaine, the SPD's candidate for chancellor in the upcoming federal election, managed to recover and run against chancellor Helmut Kohl of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the first German election since reunification. But with only 33.5 percent of the vote, he was responsible for the SPD's worst defeat since 1957.
At the SPD's national convention in Mannheim in 1995, Lafontaine delivered a powerful speech, winning over party delegates, who elected him chairman in a surprise move, replacing Rudolf Scharping. As chairman, Lafontaine (pictured with his wife, Christa, and son Carl Maurice) would be the most promising candidate to compete with Chancellor Kohl in the next election in 1998.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Gerhard Schröder -- Lafontaine's rival from Lower Saxony -- defeated him in the race for the party's nomination. But Schröder's victory in the election would not have been possible without Lafontaine. While Schröder was seen as a friend of business, Lafontaine took care care of the social aspect. "Innovation and fairness" -- the SPD's 1998 campaign slogan -- relied on both protagonists.
After the red-green victory (referring to the colors of the governing coalition formed between the SPD and the Green Party), Lafontaine was appointed minister of finance and entered the spotlight with his proposals for tax harmonization in the European Union. British media dubbed him the most dangerous man in Europe. On March 11, 1999, a big shock: Lafontaine stepped down as minister and as chairman of the SPD. Three days later he says that he stepped down because of political "foul play" within the party and a lack of team spirit. In the SPD he has since been considered persona non grata.
Lafontaine reoriented himself against the red-green government. He publisheed a highly-respected book called "Das Herz schlägt links" ("The Heart Beats to the Left") and attacked the coalition in a regular column in the tabloid Bild newspaper. Despite brief rapprochement attempts with the Saarland state chapter of the SPD, relations between the party and its former leader could not be saved. In May 2005, Lafontaine left the SPD and joined the Labor and Social Justice Party (WASG), which -- together with the successor to the East German communist party, the Party of Democratic Socialism (SPD) -- in 2007 formed the new Left Party. In 2005 he became party whip in the leftist coalition and on June 16, 2007, chairman of the Left Party.
Election year 2009 has been a defining one for the 65-year-old, pictured here at a campaign appearance in Frankfurt. In Hesse, his party only narrowly managed to rise above the 5-percent threshold required to enter the assembly. Lafontaine is trying to regain his old post as premier of Saarland. On a federal level, the young party has been plagued by a number of internal conflicts and disagreements. Lafontaine himself has also stirred up mixed emotions, and is increasingly appearing to be irritable and thin-skinned. During the recent election in Saarland, though, his party got a boost -- with 21.3 percent of the vote.
