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Parties: According to member survey: FDP wants to assert itself more strongly

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According to member survey: FDP wants to assert itself more strongly

The results of the FDP member survey are available. photo

© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

In the FDP member vote, a narrow majority voted to continue the traffic light’s government work. The result is not binding. The party leadership still draws its conclusions.

After the narrow vote of the FDP members in favor of remaining in the traffic lights want the Liberals in the coalition with the SPD and the Greens to make their signature more visible. The FDP must “become better and more assertive in the coalition,” said deputy party leader Wolfgang Kubicki on Deutschlandfunk. The deputy parliamentary group leader Konstantin Kuhle told the German Press Agency that the FDP must persistently advocate for content that they believe is correct. “In the new year, this includes not only a solid budget and financial policy but also the reform of the social security systems, for example through the stock pension provided for in the coalition agreement.”

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, as the party announced on Monday. 26,058 of the approximately 72,100 members took part in the survey. 65,899 members were eligible to vote. The difference is explained by the fact that only those who were listed in the member directory with an email address were able to take part in the digital vote. The survey has no practical consequences. According to the statutes, the party leadership is not bound to the result. It’s just a mood picture.

Briefing at the Epiphany meeting

The day before, FDP party leader Christian Lindner had seen the outcome of the member survey on Platform He can already show what that should look like this Saturday at the traditional Epiphany meeting of the Liberals in Stuttgart.

Kubicki appealed on Deutschlandfunk to the coalition partners to make the country capable of reform. The appeal is aimed particularly at the Greens, who have stopped and torpedoed a number of joint projects in recent weeks. With a view to drawing up the 2024 federal budget, which has not yet been approved, the Vice President of the Bundestag warned not to place undue burden on farmers. Agricultural diesel and vehicle tax for agricultural vehicles need to be improved.

“A majority of the participants want to continue to push through liberal content in the coalition,” Kuhle told the dpa. The result forces the party to continue to concentrate on practical work in the coalition. The FDP politician also said that many members felt uncomfortable with the federal government’s policies. One should have respect for this mood, said Kuhle, who is also the Lower Saxony FDP chairman.

Is the result an incentive or a “warning shot”?

FDP board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann viewed the survey results as an incentive. “The result shows us that the members are of the opinion that we should implement and enforce even more free democratic policies,” she told the “Rheinische Post”. The majority are of the opinion that “we should continue to fulfill our responsibilities in government.”

One of the initiators of the member survey, Matthias Nölke, called the upcoming budget discussions a “first litmus test” that the party leadership had understood the outcome of the member survey. The Kassel FDP leader called the vote on WDR5 a “clear warning shot”. He expects the party to “stand more on its hind legs.” “The country is going in the wrong direction. And the FDP is helping a policy for which it was not elected… gain a majority,” complained Nölke, citing energy and migration policy.