Peter Porsch
Encyclopedia
Peter Porsch is a German
politician and a member of the Parliament of Saxony for the far-left party Die Linke. He heads the parliamentary group of his party.
He was raised in Austria
, but settled in the German Democratic Republic
in 1973. Already from 1970 until the 1980s he was an informant
for the Stasi
under the name IM Christoph, as was later established by the Commissioner for the Stasi Archives.
He was fired from his job at the University of Leipzig in 2004 after his Stasi past was revealed.
Porsch became a member of the SED
in 1982. From 1991 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2001 he was chairman of the Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus in Saxony, and was elected to the Parliament of Saxony in 1990, and has headed the PDS/Die Linke faction since 1994. He was vice president of the PDS from 2000 to 2003.
On May 11, 2006, the Parliament of Saxony decided with great majority to open a case against Porsch at the Constitutional Court of Saxony in order to revoke his parliamentary seat, according to article 118 of the Saxon Constitution, as a consequence of his Stasi past. The case was denied in November that year for formal reasons, since the time limit to open a case was exceeded.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician and a member of the Parliament of Saxony for the far-left party Die Linke. He heads the parliamentary group of his party.
He was raised in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, but settled in the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
in 1973. Already from 1970 until the 1980s he was an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
for the Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
under the name IM Christoph, as was later established by the Commissioner for the Stasi Archives.
He was fired from his job at the University of Leipzig in 2004 after his Stasi past was revealed.
Porsch became a member of the SED
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
in 1982. From 1991 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2001 he was chairman of the Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus in Saxony, and was elected to the Parliament of Saxony in 1990, and has headed the PDS/Die Linke faction since 1994. He was vice president of the PDS from 2000 to 2003.
On May 11, 2006, the Parliament of Saxony decided with great majority to open a case against Porsch at the Constitutional Court of Saxony in order to revoke his parliamentary seat, according to article 118 of the Saxon Constitution, as a consequence of his Stasi past. The case was denied in November that year for formal reasons, since the time limit to open a case was exceeded.