Stefan Liebich
Stefan Liebich (born 30 December in Wismar) is a German politician, and member of the Bundestag for the democratic socialist party The Left (DIE LINKE).
Stefan Liebich | |
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![]() Portrait of Stefan Liebich (2017) | |
Member of the Bundestag for Berlin | |
Assumed office 7 December 2009 | |
Preceded by | Wolfgang Thierse |
Constituency | Berlin Pankow |
Leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism in Berlin | |
In office 2001–2005 | |
Preceded by | Petra Pau |
Succeeded by | Klaus Lederer |
Leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism at the Berlin House of Representatives | |
In office 2002–2006 | |
Preceded by | Harald Wolf |
Succeeded by | Carola Bluhm |
Member of the Berlin House of Representatives | |
In office 1995–2006 | |
Constituency | Marzahn |
Member of the Berlin House of Representatives | |
In office 2006–2009 | |
Constituency | Party of Democratic Socialism-List |
Personal details | |
Born | Stefan Liebich 30 December 1972 Wismar, East Germany (present-day Germany) |
Political party | The Left |
Other political affiliations | Party of Democratic Socialism (1990–2007) |
Life
Liebich was born on 30 December 1972 in the East German city of Wismar and spent his childhood in Greifswald. In 1983 him and his family moved to Berlin. According to himself he was approached by the Stasi aged 13 who asked him if he could imagine working for them at a later time..[1][2] After completing his Abitur in 1991 he graduated from Berlin University of Applied Sciences Berlin in business economics with a focus on information systems in 1995.[2]
Stefan Liebich is not religious. [3]
Party
In the GDR Stefan Liebich was a member of the marxist youth organisation FDJ. On his 18th birthday (1990) he joined the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
In 1996 and 1998 the PDS in Marzahn elected him as chair of the district. In December 1999 he was elected co-chair of the PDS in Berlin. In 2001 he succeeded Petra Pau as chairman of the Berlin PDS and was re-elected in 2003.
In October 2005 Liebich announced that he would not run for chairman of the Berlin PDS again. He proposed Klaus Lederer as his successor. He wanted to focus on leading the PDS’s parliamentary group at the Berlin House of Representatives.
Political positions
Liebich has been known to work for a red-red-green coalition on a federal level. Since 2009 he has hosted meetings between the party's MPs to find a common ground.[4][5]
He represents the moderate, reformist wing of the party and advocates for an involvement of the party with government.
Member of Parliament
Berlin House of Representatives
In 1995, 1999 and 2001 Stefan Liebich was voted into the Berlin House of Representatives for the Marzahn constituency. At the 2006 election he did not manage to win the direct mandate for Prenzlauer Berg and was subsequently elected via the PDS list.
From 2002 to 2006 he was the chairman of the PDS parliamentary group.
Bundestag
Liebich ran for office for the PDS in 2002 in Berlin-Mitte and in 2005 for The Left in Berlin-Pankow. Both times he lost to the candidates of the SPD. In 2009 Liebich managed to win the direct mandate in Pankow for the first time, beating the incumbent Wolfgang Thierse. At the 2013 and 2017 elections he also won the direct mandate.[6]
He is the chairman of the parliamentary group of The Left in the foreign affairs committee of the Bundestag, currently he is the groups spokesperson for foreign policy.
Publications
- Stefan Liebich, Gerry Woop (Hrsg.): Linke Außenpolitik: Reformperspektiven. WeltTrends, Potsdam 2013, ISBN 978-3-941880-65-8
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stefan Liebich. |
References
- taz: „Thierse passt nicht mehr in diese Zeit.“ Interview with Stefan Liebich, September 29th 2009
- Biography at Stefan Liebich's website
- Biography at the German Bundestag
- Stefan Liebich hält LINKE-Programm für nicht mehr zeitgemäß (Interview with Welt, July 12th, 2019)
- Es fehlt ein klarer Lagerwahlkampf – Interview with Stefan Liebich(Handelsblatt, June 21st, 2016)
- Berliner Direktkandidaten Wer ist drin – und wer ist draußen? (Berliner Zeitung online, 24. September 2017)