Gregor Gysi and Oskar Lafontaine (September 10, 2005) On June 10, 2005, the left-wing alliance formed by the Left Party/PDS and the WASG [Wahlalternative für Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit or Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice] announced that Gregor Gysi (top) and Oskar Lafontaine (bottom) would run as its top candidates. After the 2005 Bundestag elections, in which the Left Party/PDS won a respectable 8.7 percent of the second votes, Gysi and Lafontaine were appointed co-chairmen of the alliance’s Bundestag faction. This photo shows Gysi and Lafontaine at an election rally in Potsdam on September 10, 2005. Photo: Jan Woitas.