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East Germany Liberal Democratic Party of Germany
The founders of the LDPD considered the tradition of German
liberalism as the legacy of their party. In general, the LDPD
adhered to a policy of private ownership and individual
initiative. Upon its establishment in 1945, its leaders announced
that "the liberal creed and democratic political conviction"
would form its political ideology, but by 1948 the SED had
subjected the LDPD, like the CDU, to pressures to conform to the
official communist party line. By the early 1950s, the LDPD had
completely reversed its opposition to socialism and, in effect,
had become an auxiliary of the SED. Since 1967 the LDPD has been
chaired by Manfred Gerlach, who, like the CDU's Goetting, has
been a deputy in the People's Chamber, a member of the Presidium
of the National Front since 1950, and a deputy chairman of the
Council of State since September 1960.
Data as of July 1987
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