Margot Honecker can't say goodbye to Lenin

Bilddelightedly reports on a video that harks back to a bygone era. "Unbelievable: Margot Honecker celebrates the 60th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic," headlines Germany’s favourite sensationalist press title. The video, which Bild found on the Internet, shows the widow of the former Chairman of the East German Council of State partying in Chile where she now lives in exile. Surrounded by Chilean friends, who sought asylum in the DDR following the 1973 coup d’état which overthrew Salvador Allende, she sings old communist songs and poses in front of the flag of the DDR with its hammer and compass.

"Today’s Germany is marked by a campaign against the socialist DDR," complains the 82-year-old former first lady, "but it will not succeed. 50% of East Germans say that life is worse under capitalism. More and more people are remembering what was good in the DDR." At the same time, Mrs Honecker is delighted by the success of the left-wing political party Die Linke, which includes a number of former DDR leaders in its ranks. In general elections last September, Die Linke obtained almost 12% of the vote.