Rheinsberg - Oscar Lafontaine, the charismatic leader of Germany's radical Left Party, announced Friday that he would not run for re-election as the party's joint parliamentary leader.

Lafontaine made his decision public after a gathering of the party's elected members of parliament in Rheinsberg, in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

The 66-year-old said his decision had nothing to do with the party's standing in his native Saarland, where the Left Party - which has roots in eastern Germany - did unexpectedly well in August's state election and hopes to enter into government.

However, behind closed doors Lafontaine told delegates he wanted to focus on party issues in Saarland. The Left Party is eyeing up a coalition with the Social Democrats
(SPD) and the Greens, who have not yet decided whether to vie for such an alliance.

"It would be irresponsible to make such a decision dependent on a decision which has not yet been made," Lafontaine said in reference to the political discussions in Saarland.

Instead, he said he wanted to focus on his position as party leader.

For the time being, parliamentary co-leader Gregor Gysi is to head the faction alone, until a new figure is voted in to represent the party's western support base in. The Left Party traditionally has two leaders in the Bundestag, or parliament.

Lafontaine, a former leader of the centre-left SPD, is known for his dramatic exits and is seen as a political Judas-figure after he defected to the Left four years ago.

The extreme left-wing party, grown out of former East Germany's repressive communist state party, is regarded with suspicion in the rest of the country.

Only after Lafontaine's arrival did the Left Party begin to gain acceptance throughout the country.

The Left's support has been bolstered by former SPD voters, disgruntled with the SPD's shift towards the centre during four years of federal government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, ended by last month's general election.

The Left Party is now the fourth largest group in the Bundestag, after winning 11.9 per cent of the vote.

In Saarland, one of Germany's westernmost states, Lafontaine led his party to gain 21.3 per cent of the vote in August's state election - an increase of 19 per cent. (dpa)