Gesine Lötzsch [geˈsinə løːtʃ] (born 7 August 1961) is a German politician of the left-wing party Die Linke. She was elected president of Die Linke in 2010 (jointly with Klaus Ernst).
She was born in East Germany and joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in 1984, remaining a member of its successor parties SED-PDS (1989–1990), PDS, (1990–2005), Die Linkspartei.PDS (2005–2007) and Die Linke (2007-). She was elected to the German parliament (the Bundestag) for the Party of Democratic Socialism in 2002.
Lötzsch has been criticized of suggesting former Stasi employees should serve in parliaments and governments.[1] The leader of the Alliance '90/The Greens, Claudia Roth, claimed that Gesine Lötzsch wants to "sweep the past under the carpet".[2] Her local party group in Berlin-Lichtenberg has invited former Stasi employees and informers as speakers on several occasions with her support; for instance Erich Mielke's immediate deputy Werner Grossmann was invited as a speaker[3] Green member of parliament Wolfgang Wieland criticized her of appearing as a speaker in a revisionist association, "Initiativgemeinschaft zum Schutz der sozialen Rechte"[4]
She is married to Ronald Lötzsch, who was revealed to be a former Stasi informer in 2010.[5][6]