German leftists set to head first regional state

Berlin: Germany's left-wing parties have reached a historic deal to form their first coalition government at state-level, 25 years after the collapse of communism in the country.

The leaders of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green party and the Left party set their seal for a new government in the state of Thuringia in eastern Germany by signing their coalition agreement in the state capital Erfurt on Thursday.

They nominated Bodo Ramelow of the Left party to lead the new government, which is expected to assume office next month.

The Left party, which was formed nearly a decade ago by merging the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in eastern Germany and a break-away group of the SPD, had participated in some state governments with the social democrats, but never had a state premier.

Germany's third largest party has been struggling to gain a broad acceptance in the west, where it is still perceived by many as a successor to the communist party in former East Germany.

Presenting their agreement, coalition leaders announced that dealing with the communist past of eastern Germany will be a main focus of the new government's policy. Left Party's chairperson Susanne Hennig-Wellsow emphasised that their condemnation of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) as a state which ignored the rule of law is not a "lip service" and they have included it in the preamble of their coalition agreement.

A far-reaching reform of the administrative sector, creation of new jobs, a debt-free state budget and a free kindergarten year are among the priorities for the new government.

The agreement to form a left-wing government in Thuringia, which was part of east Germany, comes eleven days after Germany marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The state was ruled by chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) either alone or in a coalition with the SPD since the country's reunification in 2010.

The CDU failed to secure an absolute majority in the election to the state parliament in September and it could not find a partner to form a new government.