With its twelve-point paper on the economic turnaround, the FDP is increasing the pressure on the SPD and the Greens ahead of their party conference at the weekend. But the party itself is in trouble – also because of poor poll numbers.
Anyone who speaks to FDP politicians these days will hear one word very quickly and very often: economic transition. The party leadership is currently warning that it is urgently needed, especially FDP leader Christian Lindner in almost every interview and statement.
And the slogan will also determine the FDP’s federal party conference this weekend in Berlin. The key proposal is entitled: “An economic turnaround for Germany – priority for growth, security, innovation and opportunities for advancement.” The FDP leadership had already tried to introduce the term in several papers and with an interview offensive in advance and thus attract attention to itself.
Economic change – for the FDP that means: tax relief for companies and employees, no new social benefits, abolishing the so-called pension at 63 and quick sanctions on citizens’ benefits for those who refuse to work.
Increase the pressure
The coalition partner SPD initially reacted with a loud no, the Greens waved them off in a quieter but also misleading way. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai likes to emphasize that it is about demands for an FDP party conference. After all, not the entire traffic light coalition comes together on the weekend. However, resolutions should not be made just for the party minutes.
Djir-Sarai opposite the ARD capital studio: “But of course this is not the party conference of an opposition party, but of a government party. And as a government party we will do everything we can to ensure that these points can ultimately be implemented. Because we are convinced that if we don’t do this, the others will do not do.” Djir-Sarai is thus increasing the pressure on the coalition partners even before the party conference.
Is the FDP hitting a nerve in the East?
At the same time, the FDP itself is under pressure. The approval ratings are poor. In surveys for the upcoming European elections and the votes in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, the FDP is sometimes well below five percent.
The FDP hopes to hit a nerve with the economic turnaround, especially in East Germany. Lydia Hüskens, Infrastructure Minister of the FDP in Saxony-Anhalt, welcomes the ARD capital studio the concept, for example with the planned stricter sanctions for citizens’ money if job offers are rejected: “I think this issue of performance equity – that we as a state help those who need help, but don’t help those who want to make themselves comfortable – is something “What needs to be focused on, especially in the eastern German states.” A strong focus on economic issues is therefore extremely important.
Discontent among the party base
The turning paper can also be seen as an attempt to calm the party base, where dissatisfaction with the traffic light policy can be heard again and again. In a member survey five months ago, only a narrow majority was in favor of continuing the coalition. Many in the party are pushing for the economically liberal profile to be made clearer.
Franziska Brandmann, the chairwoman of the Young Liberals, resigns from the ARD capital studio Already started to talk at the party conference about the so-called pension package, which FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner and SPD Labor Minister Hubertus Heil have just agreed in principle: “There has to be renegotiation. I would like that to happen before the law is passed “I would like Hubertus Heil and Christian Lindner to look deeply into each other’s eyes and then present a new draft.”
The pension package envisages maintaining the pension level until 2039 and at the same time placing a greater burden on contributors. According to the Young Liberals, this is primarily at the expense of younger people. “Not like that, Mr. Heil” they want to make clear with an action at the federal party conference, which is expected to lead to a lively debate.
2024 is not 1982
Some are now speculating that the FDP wants to collapse the traffic light coalition in the near future – comparable to the year 1982, when the FDP switched from an alliance with Helmut Schmidt’s SPD to Helmut Kohl’s Union with the demand for a change.
FDP General Secretary Djir-Sarai rejects such parallels: “The current time is not comparable to the time back then. There was also a completely different majority composition in the German Bundestag back then, combined with options that were theoretically possible and not possible.”
Because the situation is different than in 1982. If the coalition were to break, the Union and the FDP would now not have a majority. But this question does not arise, says Djir-Sarai. “Because our goal, starting from the party conference, is to present measures that will make our country economically strong again. And we want to implement that within the coalition, we want to implement that with this coalition.”
This can be understood as a commitment to the traffic lights – this is also an important message from the FDP before the party conference at the weekend. But one thing is clear: From Monday, the Free Democrats will put pressure on the coalition with their will to turn the economy around.