Lindner sees FDP vote as a mandate for more "liberal profile" in coalition
These points were agreed in the coalition agreement, Kubicki said on Deutschlandfunk radio. "Anyone who no longer wants to make the coalition agreement the basis for joint policy will dissolve this coalition," said the deputy leader. "That must be clear to everyone. We expect the coalition partners to adhere to the agreements."
The vote of the base shows "that we as the FDP must become better and more assertive in the coalition, and we are now working on this," Kubicki added.
In the survey of FDP members, a narrow majority of 52% of participants voted against the party leaving the ruling traffic light coalition. The online survey was initiated by party members who were dissatisfied with their participation in the traffic light coalition. The party leadership had campaigned to remain in the coalition.
Party leader Lindner saw the result as confirmation of the FDP's participation in government. The vote was an "expression of responsibility for Germany", he wrote on the online service X (formerly Twitter).
The sharper profile announced by the FDP leadership is unlikely to make cooperation in the "traffic light" any easier. There could be new conflicts with the Greens in particular - Kubicki hinted at this in the radio interview. "We will document that there are good creative approaches in climate policy, as well as in economic and financial policy, which differ from the distribution mechanism of the Greens."
In reaction to the result of the vote, FDP parliamentary group deputy leader Konstantin Kuhle self-critically pointed out deficits in the communication of the "traffic light". Especially when it comes to implementing the upcoming reforms in the areas of migration and social policy, he expects the government to "exude the necessary calm and leadership needed to make such difficult decisions", said Kuhle on the Phoenix channel.
FDP board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann saw the narrow result of the member survey as an incentive for her party. Strack-Zimmermann told the Düsseldorfer "Rheinische Post" on Tuesday: "The result shows us that the members are of the opinion that we should implement and enforce even more free democratic policies."
The deadline for taking part in the online survey, which was launched two weeks ago, ended on Monday afternoon. The question was: "Should the FDP end the coalition with the SPD and Greens as part of the federal government?" Members were able to answer yes or no. The FDP's constitution stipulates that 500 signatures from members are sufficient to hold a non-binding survey among the party's 72,000 members.
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Source: www.stern.de
