Left’s Lafontaine tipped for comeback after cancer surgery

“The signs are there will be a comeback,” an unnamed senior party member told the daily in comments previewed Sunday.

News magazine Der Spiegel reported that Lafontaine, 66, was widely expected within the senior ranks of the party to return to his role as chairman. The Left won 11.9 percent of the vote in the 2009 federal election, delivering it 76 seats in the lower house or Bundestag.

Lafontaine said before the surgery that he would review his health situation early in then new year and make a decision about his future then.

He is expected to attend a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group on January 11, where he plans to outline his political future.

However a party spokesman on Sunday refused to confirm this.

The charismatic politician, who is also a member of the Bundestag, underwent surgery on November 19 for prostate cancer and has not been seen at public engagements since.

Frankfurter Rundschau reported that Lafontaine had attended meetings of The Left parliamentary group in his home state of Saarland in recent weeks.