The smallest coalition partner is struggling. In surveys, the FDP is languishing at five percent. And things are fermenting within our own ranks. Individual members are calling for people to leave the traffic light. Is the party taking a different course?
“It is better not to govern than to govern incorrectly”: This somewhat older saying from FDP leader Christian Lindner seems to be bothering some in the party again. 26 members wrote a “wake-up call for freedom” at the end of October. In the paper they question the coalition with the SPD and the Greens.
It is said that the FDP has “lost its credibility because we loudly and publicly advocate for things that do not correspond to the subsequent voting behavior of the group members.” Examples of this are the nuclear phase-out and the heating law. “The FDP is bending itself beyond recognition in this coalition.”
“A clear liberal handwriting in every law”
Party leader Lindner is said to have responded to the call with a tight lip. Well-known FDP members have not yet joined. And Bundestag member Gyde Jensen also sees it differently. “I see a clear liberal handwriting in every law,” she said. “Knowing full well that we are the smallest partner in this coalition and therefore have to negotiate all the better and make certain arguments clear more emphatically in order to ultimately get these points passed into law.”
The FDP hopes to gain support by vehemently advocating for its goals, even in a confrontational manner against its coalition partners – most recently the party leader questioned the decision to phase out coal. For Gyde Jensen, however, it is important that the FDP needs to improve, especially in communicating its decisions. So it’s better to explain why the end result is a compromise and not “pure FDP”.
Signatures for withdrawal
The authors of the “Wake-Up Call for Freedom” draw a different conclusion. They want to start a member survey as to whether the FDP should remain in the coalition. They are currently collecting signatures for this, only 500 are needed.
He takes every voice in the FDP seriously, says General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai. Accordingly, the party conducts discussions very openly and fairly. “But these are all internal processes so far.”
Do the SPD and the Greens have to worry about losing their coalition partner? “The FDP is now a government party,” Djir-Sarai continues. “And a governing party must solve the problems, the challenges that exist in the country.”
FDP misses five percent in survey
And this in a time of crises: war in Ukraine, Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, the migration issue. But does the government have the right solutions? The electorate is not convinced. The coalition as a whole has poor values, but the FDP is disastrous. Finally she ended up in ARD Germany trend at 4 percent.
Parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr says the FDP must set the right priorities – and stick to one thing in particular: “Without the free democrats, Germany would no longer adhere to the debt brake for a long time.” You can get by with the money that taxpayers provide. “These are important indications, which is why it is important that the FDP takes responsibility.” That’s what the FDP was elected for, emphasizes Dürr, which is why he wants to work for reforms in the coalition.
Jensen also recommends her party to “continue on this sometimes bumpy path, including negotiations that are sometimes lengthy. And in my view it is the laziest and easiest way imaginable to give up and say, we’re not going to take part any further.” Not governing is not an option for the FDP in this situation.