CDU leader Merz has rejected the Liberals’ attempt to flirt with a black-yellow coalition. The SPD and the Greens reacted with incomprehension to the FDP Secretary General’s criticism of the traffic lights – and called for loyalty to the coalition.
In view of the demonstrative flirtation of top liberals with a black-yellow alliance, the SPD and the Greens have urged the FDP to remain loyal to the coalition. SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert called on the Liberals “not to dream of a distant future that you might hope for is more beautiful than reality seems to you.” He continued: “We ran for election in 2021 to take responsibility – we and the coalition partners.” The coalition was “elected to take responsibility and not to bother the nation with debates about things in two years,” said Kühnert.
Green Party leader Ricarda Lang also expressed incomprehension about the discussion. She sees “no reason” for the FDP to leave the traffic light coalition. “We stand by the coalition until 2025, and I assume that this is the case with all parties,” she said.
FDP insists on criticism
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai told “Bild am Sonntag” at the weekend that, for him, a coalition of the Union and the FDP “would be able to not only properly analyze the country’s problems together, but actually together “To find solutions”. Today he defended his statements: He sees “many overlaps with the Union” in economic policy in particular. He sees fewer overlaps in the traffic light coalition. Djir-Sarai spoke of three parties “that obviously often have different ideas.”
The Secretary General received support from the FDP. “An economic package would probably be reached more quickly and easily between the FDP and the Union than with the SPD and the Greens,” said deputy parliamentary group leader Christoph Meyer to the AFP news agency in Berlin. “There are different views in the coalition on strengthening the economy and competitiveness, that is undisputed.”
Removal from Union
CDU leader Friedrich Merz reacted cautiously to the advances. “The FDP continues to bear responsibility for the results of this government,” said Merz in Berlin. “If she wants to change something, then she not only has to give interviews, but she also has to follow up with action.”
The Liberals now have the task of using their own efforts to ensure that “we have a mathematical majority” in the next federal election, said the CDU leader – and added: “Then we could speak.”
The CDU leader made it clear whether the Union would take the FDP into consideration in the next federal election campaign, for example, also depends on its weakness or strength at the given time. “If we see that the FDP is practically threatened with another exit from the German Bundestag, then we will address the FDP voters accordingly.”
Two options for FDP
What options would the FDP have if it does not want to continue the government in this form? On the one hand, she could change coalition partners. In principle, this is possible, even in the middle of the legislative period. The FDP had already done this once in 1982: it canceled the coalition with the SPD, sided with the Union and elected CDU leader Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. Black and yellow had a majority in the Bundestag at the time. The problem today: There is no majority for such an alliance in the current Bundestag.
The second option would be a break in the coalition and new elections: The FDP could simply break up the coalition with the SPD and the Greens and go into opposition. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) would then no longer have a majority in the Bundestag, but would remain in office until a successor is elected. Such a scenario is likely to result in a quick new election for the Bundestag – in which the FDP would, however, have to fear for its political survival. Most surveys currently see the Liberals below the five percent threshold.