Lindner in the report from Berlin: Not convinced of the CDU’s “content orientation”

For a long time the Union was ahead in the polls, currently it is the SPD. What does that mean for the FDP? in the Report from Berlin stressed their boss Lindner that the Union is closer to the FDP, but also clearly criticized the desired partner.

If you look at the current polls, the FDP can have legitimate hopes of being involved in a future federal government. Because whichever party wins, it will probably need two partners to form a coalition. But while the Union was in the lead for a long time – for which the FDP is a declared “partner of choice” – the SPD is currently ahead in most surveys. In the current ARD Germany trend it even has a lead of five percentage points. That makes it more complicated for the FDP.

Because the desired partner of the SPD would be the Greens. And FDP leader Christian Lindner had already expressed negative views on a possible alliance with these two parties – albeit less categorically recently. in the Report from Berlin he now said that the program of the SPD and the Greens was not one that “has a substantive relationship to our ideas”. The CDU and CSU are closer to the FDP in the matter. He expressly did not rule out a traffic light coalition – an alliance with the SPD and the Greens.

Lindner: Union wants to “doctor around” the debt brake

But Lindner also clearly criticized the Union. The “political content orientation” of the CDU did not convince him. He cited the question of tax increases as examples. There have been different signals here, but taxes should not be increased. The Union also wants to “doctor around” the debt brake. And on the issue of climate protection, he worries “that the Union is not sending a clear signal that it is relying more on technology and not on a very state-oriented and prohibited-oriented policy.”

Lindner emphasized the independence of his party and warned voters not to vote tactically in the federal election. One should orientate oneself on political content. The offer of the FDP is a “politics of the middle”. He accused the SPD and the Greens again of “flirting” with the Left Party.

Merz: FDP should rule out traffic lights

The CDU politician Friedrich Merz also called on the SPD and the Greens to position themselves clearly on the Left Party. The Left Party wants to go back to “the darkest times of socialism” and is not a coalition partner for democratic parties.

Merz is part of the election campaign team of Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet. in the Report from Berlin But he also asked the FDP to position itself: They should say “that they are not available for a traffic light – but that is up to them,” said Merz.

Scholz: “Would like to rule with the Greens”

SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz had previously sharply criticized the Left Party again in an interview with the “Tagesspiegel” – among other things with reference to their voting behavior on the evacuation mission of the Bundeswehr in Kabul. The voting behavior of the left in the Bundestag was “bad”, said Scholz. The majority of left-wing MPs abstained, but there were also some yes and no votes.

“Anyone who wants to take on government responsibility in Germany has to make a clear commitment to cooperation with the USA, to the transatlantic partnership and to the fact that we need NATO for our defense and our security,” said Scholz. This is non-negotiable.

“I would like to govern together with the Greens,” said Scholz in the interview. According to the polls, the SPD and the Greens would have to grow significantly before the election at the end of September in order to get a majority together. Should it not be enough for a government composed only of the SPD and the Greens, Scholz is aiming for a traffic light coalition with the FDP, according to “Tagesspiegel”.