BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Left party has thrown out one of its regional deputies who sparked outrage by arguing for the return of East Germany's notorious secret police, the Stasi.
Christel Wegner, 60, has been expelled from the Leftparty's parliamentary group in Lower Saxony after winning aseat in the state's parliament last month, the party said onMonday.
In a statement, the party said the views she expressed inan interview with TV station ARD last week were "unacceptable".
"We can never again have a socialism without the rule oflaw, democracy and freedom to travel," the party said.
The Left party, a relatively new grouping of ex-communistsand disaffected former Social Democrats (SPD), is a risingforce in German politics. It is seen as a threat to the SPDwhich now governs nationally in coalition with the centre-rightChristian Democrats.
Wegner, who is also member of the German Communist Party(DKP), had said she wanted to see a new socialist Germany.
"I think that if a new society was created, we would needsuch an organisation (as the Stasi) again, because we wouldhave to protect ourselves against reactionary forces trying toweaken the state from within," she told ARD.
The Left party urged Wegner to give up her seat in LowerSaxony's parliament, saying she had abused the trust of theparty and the people who voted for her.
Wegner also said in the interview that the Berlin Wall hadbeen built to protect the East German economy from West Germansseeking to cross the border to buy cheap goods.
The Stasi was seen as one of the most repressive policeorganisations in the world. It infiltrated almost every aspectof life in communist East Germany, using torture, intimidationand a network of informants to crush political dissent.
The Left party made it into parliaments in Lower Saxony andHesse last month, the first time it has entered assemblies inlarge western states. Recent polls suggest it will also do soin Hamburg in a state election due to be held on Sunday.
(Reporting by Dave Graham)
