Government
FDP members should vote on whether to remain in the coalition
“Should the FDP end the coalition with the SPD and the Greens as part of the federal government?” – The FDP members should now answer this question. photo
© Friso Gentsch/dpa
The FDP takes an oath: How do the members feel about the traffic lights? There will be a vote on this soon.
The question should be asked: “Should the FDP end the coalition with the SPD and the Greens as part of the federal government?” The only possible answers are “yes” or “no”, although arguments for these options may be integrated into the survey “in an appropriate and balanced manner”.
The result of the member survey is considered to be an indication of the mood and can heat up the discussion within the party, but without having any immediate consequences. The federal statutes state: “The party’s organs are not bound in their decision-making to the results of the member survey.”
14 days to vote
The board’s decision coincides with the traffic light coalition members’ struggle to find a way out of the budget crisis that the Federal Constitutional Court triggered with its ruling in mid-November. Leading FDP politicians recently emphasized that, despite all the differences of opinion, they are not planning to leave the alliance with the SPD and the Greens.
The voting period is 14 days, according to the party executive committee’s decision. The online survey via a member portal should begin as quickly as possible, but Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai will determine the exact start and end.
The initiators of the member survey handed over the signatures a few days ago. Kassel district chairman Matthias Nölke, a co-initiator, said it was expected that a nationwide opinion would be obtained in the party as early as January, if possible. It would be a success for the project if 60 or 70 percent of the members took part “and more than half of them said: get out of the traffic lights”.
The initiative follows an open letter from 26 state and local politicians from the FDP, who demanded that the FDP should reconsider its coalition partners after the poor election results in Hesse and Bavaria.