FDP start of the year
Activists disrupt the Liberals’ Epiphany meeting
The Epiphany meeting of the Liberals will be a tightrope walk for party leader Christian Lindner: He has to defend the continuation of the traffic lights in front of the members – and distance himself from the SPD and the Greens (archive photo). photo
© Christoph Reichwein/dpa
The FDP traditionally meets in Stuttgart on January 6th. The meeting is disrupted by activists who shout and interrupt Lindner’s speech.
A few days after the very close vote FDP members for staying in the traffic lights, the Liberals are meeting today for their traditional Epiphany meeting in Stuttgart.
The Epiphany meeting was disrupted by activists who gained access to the Stuttgart Opera. They shouted and interrupted the speech of FDP Federal Chairman Christian Lindner and unfurled a banner in the opera hall with the slogan: “Take people with you – climate protection can only be done in a socially just way.” Activists demand that the government must introduce climate money. Lindner interrupted his speech and referred to the reduced CO2 emissions in Germany. He also said that if the Attac organization is now promoting climate money, this will be the first time that left-wing autonomous groups are in favor of the FDP’s election program.
Lindner assures flood victims of solidarity
In his speech, Lindner pledged solidarity with the victims of the flood in parts of Germany. Those affected can rely on solidarity, said the Federal Finance Minister. They don’t want to make the state responsible for everything, and it can’t be responsible for everything, said Lindner. “But anyone who gets into trouble through no fault of their own can rely on the solidarity of society.”
In Stuttgart, FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai spoke out in favor of a stronger fight against parallel societies in Germany. We need to do a lot better at managing and controlling migration, he said. But at the same time you have to develop a feeling for the people who come to us. Politicians must do everything to ensure that children in particular do not grow up with a foreign consciousness, but rather with a domestic identity. Until recently, no one wanted to admit that parallel societies existed in the country, said Djir-Sarai. “Anyone who complains about parallel societies in Germany’s cities must first eliminate the parallel societies in people’s minds.”
In the FDP member vote, 52.2 percent voted to continue the traffic light’s government work. 47.8 percent wanted to end the alliance. According to the statutes, the party leadership is not bound to the result. It’s just a mood picture. Lindner viewed the outcome of the member survey as a clear mandate to “continue to show a liberal profile in government actions.” The FDP is currently at a low point in surveys – the values were recently around five percent.
For more than 140 years, the Liberals have started the new year politically on January 6th in the southwest. In 1866, a forerunner of the FDP, the Württemberg People’s Party, met in Stuttgart for the first “Epiphany Parade”.