A government resembling a traffic light - Kühnert applauds the FDP for not abandoning the coalition.
The Secretary General of the SPD, Kevin Kühnert, expressed appreciation for the FDP's persistence in the coalition with the SPD and the Greens, despite significant disagreements. When asked what he found notable about the Liberals, Kühnert remarked, "Yes - I'm glad they didn't abandon ship in the past two and a half years." Kühnert recognized that the FDP faced difficult circumstances given the left-leaning makeup of their partners, but was impressed by their commitment.
He noted, "The FDP had to traverse the longest path into this coalition and undoubtedly had to contend with the most demands from their own political base, and they've experienced several electoral setbacks since fall 2021. Yet they refused to yield. That demonstrates a fundamental sense of accountability and merits my admiration."
Regarding the prospect of another term for the traffic light coalition following the 2025 federal election, Kühnert reasoned, "It would be unwise to let our chagrin over certain occurrences in the traffic light coalition drive us to exclude them out of spite. That would be illogical given the challenges we're facing."
However, Kühnert disagreed with the FDP's unyielding stance on the debt brake. "Besides FDP leader Carsten Linnemann and possibly a few others, I don't see anyone else in the country who is as inflexible as to claim that our debt regulations are in perfect shape."
FDP leader Christian Lindner disputed the characterization of his party as a government-internal opposition in an interview with "wochentaz." "Some expect the FDP to defy its electoral mandate and just promote red-green politics," Lindner said. He further asserted, "By the way, we plan on continuing to govern."
