Lindner: No reason for a vote of confidence

Coalition - Lindner: No reason for a vote of confidence

Following the compromise in the budget crisis, FDP leader Christian Lindner sees no reason to doubt the support of the coalition government for Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) - despite his party's members' vote to remain in government. "The 2024 budget is in place and the Chancellor must have no doubts about the majority for his government in parliament," the Federal Finance Minister told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.

A question of confidence, as demanded by CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz, would only have to be asked by a chancellor if he was no longer sure of his majority. Merz's demand was "part of the usual opposition gymnastics".

Meanwhile, the discussion about the K-question continues to simmer within the CDU/CSU. It would be immediately relevant should the coalition break up. The next federal election is scheduled for fall 2025.

FDP leader: member survey on the traffic light is not stressful

Lindner said that the FDP member vote does not stress him out. "Because it is an opportunity to make it clear that the FDP is helping to shape the direction of the government." The other options - Lindner spoke of the CDU/CSU joining an SPD-led grand coalition or the SPD and Greens continuing as a minority government - were "certainly not the better alternatives for our country".

FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki called on party members to vote against an end to the traffic light system in the survey. "I expect that there will not be a majority in favor of leaving the government," he told the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspapers. "Because it should be clear to everyone that we can hardly go into an upcoming election campaign with the slogan: We have failed, vote for us anyway."

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr also expressed confidence in the Funke media group newspapers. Together with the SPD and the Greens, the FDP had "made progress on many things that would have failed because of the CDU/CSU in a Jamaica constellation".

The online survey of FDP members is to be launched soon, according to a spokesperson. The result could fuel the discussions, but has no immediate consequences: According to the constitution, the party organs are not forced to implement it.

Kretschmer: Merz the logical candidate for chancellor

In the CDU/CSU discussion, Saxony's Minister President and CDU Vice President Kretschmer told Bild am Sonntag that Merz has done an "outstanding job as party leader for two years, he has reunited the CDU and is therefore the logical candidate for Chancellor". He added: "I have known him for a long time and I trust him to fill the office of Chancellor much more successfully than Olaf Scholz at the moment."

CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt told the "Rheinische Post" newspaper when asked whether the CDU and CSU would work hand in hand to resolve the personnel issue next year: "We are ready to take on responsibility together as a federal government. There will be a candidate for chancellor, and Friedrich Merz is the clear favorite."

CSU leader Markus Söder, who many do not believe that he no longer has any ambitions for the candidacy, recently conceded that Merz would only be the favorite in the event of an early election. Otherwise, he told the magazine "Stern": "The key question regarding the candidacy for chancellor is: Who can bundle the Union's votes the most? The CDU must then decide."

Günther: Involve committees in K-question

Schleswig-Holstein's Minister President Daniel Günther (CDU) told "Der Spiegel" that the CDU and CSU were as strong as the SPD, Greens and FDP combined with more than 30 percent in the polls. "But of course we in the CDU/CSU all agree that this disastrous traffic light government could still achieve significantly more than 30 percent." Günther once again warned that "all relevant people" from the CDU and CSU must be involved in the decision on the candidate for chancellor - "there are also elected party committees".

Before the 2021 general election, the then CDU leader Armin Laschet had prevailed over Söder in a tough battle for the candidacy. North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister-President Hendrik Wüst has not yet expressed any open ambitions to run, but has not denied it either. Merz and Söder had discussed that the K question should be clarified in late summer 2024. A few months ago, Söder then advocated waiting for the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September.