In March 2006, however, divisions emerged between the WASG and the PDS – now The Left Party.PDS – in Berlin and the East more generally, in the run-up to state elections, due to the continuing involvement of the PDS with the SPD in coalition governments which were instituting cut-backs. The WASG Berlin, against advice or pressure from the national party leadership, announced its intention to run separate lists in Berlin "against" the PDS. The WASG list won 2.9% of the vote in the 17 September elections. The fusion process brought a significant loss in party memberships of WASG.