parties
FDP General Secretary: FDP double digits in federal election
“I am still convinced that the FDP will achieve a double-digit result again,” says FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai. photo
© Axel Heimken/dpa
The surveys show values of around five percent for the FDP. This will probably also put a damper on the traditional Epiphany meeting on Saturday. But Secretary General Djir-Sarai dares to make an optimistic forecast.
Of course, this isn’t a sure-fire success; it requires hard work – “good communication, a lot of patience and the implementation of a policy that we are convinced of.”
FDP in the poll cellar
In the 2021 federal election, the Liberals under party leader Christian Lindner achieved 11.5 percent. The FDP has not been doing well in nationwide surveys for a long time. In surveys published in December and early January, she reached around 5 percent – so it is unclear whether she would even get into the Bundestag if there were elections now. On Saturday the FDP will meet in Stuttgart for its traditional Epiphany meeting. Federal Chairman Lindner, among others, will speak at the Liberals’ political start to the year.
Criticism of the traffic light political style
Meanwhile, FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann criticized the political style in the traffic light coalition. The “noise and very loud discussions” drowned out the successes and increasingly annoyed citizens, she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Incidentally, this affects all three coalition partners, because in such challenging times, the best thing to do is to discuss behind the scenes, find solutions and then take the stage together.”
Secretary General Djir-Sarai, on the other hand, said of the criticism of last year’s internal traffic light dispute: “You can always work on the volume. But we shouldn’t be overly sensitive.” At the end of the day, good and pragmatic solutions must be found. “And if we manage to get the country into a good position again, then that will be good for all actors in this coalition.”
European elections in view
When asked about the content of the FDP election campaign for the European elections in June, Djir-Sarai said that almost 60 percent of the bureaucracy in Germany has its origins in EU legislation. “Something urgently needs to change here.”
Europe should concentrate on the big issues, such as the common foreign and security policy. “But we also want to make it clear what great importance the EU has for every single citizen. I can only warn against viewing the European elections as a protest election,” he said.