Anyone who had expected the participants in an FDP district meeting, i.e. the party base, to express a certain displeasure in the face of sobering poll numbers and disappointing results in the recent state elections was disappointed on Thursday evening. In the Poinger Einkehr, where 22 voters from the Ebersberg constituency gathered to nominate their candidates for the upcoming state and district elections in 2023, you had to listen carefully if you wanted to filter out fundamental criticism of the federal party. If at all, a certain distance might be measured by how often the name of the federal chairman and acting federal finance minister, Christian Lindner, was mentioned: Not at all. At least not so loud that everyone present could have heard him.
“I can’t understand why Söder has such good results again,” said Susanne Markmiller
Instead, the Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU state chairman was mentioned. “I can’t understand why Söder has such good results again,” said the district chair of the liberals Susanne Markmiller. Perhaps these words did their part in getting those present to vote in energetic unanimity for the four proposed candidates. Without objection, the assembly nominated Marc Salih from Poing and Martin Hagen from Vaterstetten as top and list candidates for the state elections, as well as the Glonner local chairman Frank Hansen and André Schreiber, Treasurer of the FDP in Vaterstetten, as first and second vote candidates for the elections to the district elections .
The 48-year-old Salih, who lives with his partner in Poing, had already stood there in the 2020 local elections as a mayoral candidate and constituency candidate for the 2021 federal election. Now, as the top candidate in the constituency, he is hoping for renegade CSU voters. “If a police chief reads it, that could be the deciding factor for CSU voters who are willing to change,” he explained. And then he took another look at the federal political stage: he was delighted that the decision to extend the life of the three nuclear power plants Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 had now been made.
A decision that was only due to the persistence of the FDP in the federal government, explained the state chairman Martin Hagen. In the 41-year-old, who has lived in Baldham for seven years, the meeting would have had a direct contact for criticism or suggestions for improvement in federal politics. The Bavarian state chairman of the Liberals and parliamentary group chairman is a member of the federal executive board and was involved in the negotiations for the traffic light coalition – also in the debates about a speed limit, which according to all surveys is now supported by a majority of Germans. The party leadership around Christian Lindner had taken a clear position against it and once again accepted differences of opinion with the Green coalition partner – just like the dispute over nuclear power, a strongly ideological controversy. In any case, it was heard from the ranks of the district liberals that a majority in the FDP would now also be in favor of a speed limit. Confronted with this in a small circle, Hagen explained that he was “maximally dispassionate” on this point.
“I collect the second votes here in the district,” announced Martin Hagen
Hagen, who led the FDP back to the Bavarian state parliament in 2018 as a direct candidate for the Rosenheim-Ost constituency and top candidate, is running for the Ebersberg district in first place on the state list. In view of his position in the party, he has too many national appointments to be able to show sufficient presence in his constituency during the election campaign, explained the father of two daughters. The top candidate is therefore in good hands with Salih, “I’ll collect the second votes here in the district,” he announced.
In any case, Hagen was not sparing in his criticism of the political opponent, whom in Bavaria he was conveniently able to place clearly beyond the coalition partners at the federal level. An economics minister – Hubert Aiwanger (FW) – who has his skills more in regional economic cycles could hardly meet the challenges of a high-tech location like Bavaria with eight DAX companies alone. The Bavarian state government’s refusal to allow for the expansion of power lines, pumped storage and wind turbines is directly damaging to “our industry”. And the competence of Bavarian companies in the digital sector is not promoted at all by the Bavarian state government – the best example is the lack of digital equipment in schools, as the Corona period has shown. And then, given the continuing shortage of teachers, he also took on the Bavarian Ministry of Education, which is also run by the Free Voters, where they had not been able to “make a teacher requirements plan” “over a whole legislative period”.
There was a bit of internal criticism – albeit wrapped in a joke – at one point – namely at the all-male team of candidates for the state and district elections. According to the counter-speech, no woman stood as a candidate.