Epiphany meeting of the FDP: Lindner calls for course correction of the traffic lights

At the Epiphany meeting of the FDP, party leader Lindner called for course corrections from the traffic lights and warned: Governing would not be easier even with the Union. He reacted bitingly to a disturbance by climate activists.

At the start of the Epiphany rally in Stuttgart, leading liberals defended the entry of the FDP into the traffic light coalition but called for course corrections. Party leader Christian Lindner admitted that it was not easy for the Liberals to participate in government, but warned: “No one should be under the illusion that governing with the Union would be easier,” said Lindner. “It would just be different.”

Lindner said the traffic light only has a chance of re-election if Germany gets back on the road to economic success. The coalition must focus less on redistribution and more on growth – the FDP also accepts conflicts with the government partners, said Lindner. In tax and energy policy, he formulated demands at the party meeting that have little chance of being implemented with the SPD and Greens – such as a general reduction in the tax burden for citizens and companies, another postponement of the nuclear phase-out and the promotion of shale gas in Germany.

The FDP will work in the coalition to create the basis for more dynamic growth – including tax stimuli. “The FDP should not submit proposals that fit the Greens – the FDP should continue to submit proposals that fit with reality,” said the party leader. “We will stick to that with cheerful penetrance.”

“Government is not for cowards”

The Baden-Württemberg state chairman, Michael Theurer, was similarly combative. “Government is not for cowards,” he said in the Stuttgart Opera House. In the “traffic light” the FDP joined forces with parties that had some “fundamentally different views”: the SPD and the Greens were statist, the FDP was a market economy, said Theurer. “But we believe that this governing coalition has one task – namely to act in the most difficult of times.”

The leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, Hans-Ulrich Rülke, also admitted that the current situation of the party was difficult: “It was not an easy year for the FDP,” he said. Nevertheless, he believes “with complete conviction” that it was the right move to join the governing coalition in Berlin.

So far, the FDP has not benefited from government participation in Berlin. After the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, the party was kicked out of the governments in Düsseldorf and Kiel, and in Lower Saxony the party even missed re-entering parliament.

Climate activists on stage

A group of climate activists disrupted the appearance of party leader Lindner in the Stuttgart Opera. During his speech, they rose from their seats on the gallery, sang “We shall overcome” and unfurled banners. One bore the inscription “Climate collapse = economic collapse”.

Lindner reacted with biting humor and advised the activists to stick to the opera – at least then they wouldn’t be able to obstruct anyone else. It is not enough to demonstrate for climate protection, someone has to be able to assemble it, says Lindner. “Sticking was yesterday, tackling is now the order of the day,” he said, earning prolonged applause. He recommends the activists: “You found a party and look for democratic majorities, that’s how we keep it in democracy.”

In his speech, he called for more investment in the education of young people: “In order for this to really make a difference, we need an additional billion in education every year in the next few years,” he said.