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The FDP is causing a stir with a paper. The party itself thinks: much ado about nothing. Meanwhile, a political scientist says that a government without the FDP is not out of the question.
Berlin – Yellow is simply not red, that is becoming increasingly clear these days. Just a few days ago, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil said quite clearly at a discussion in Stuttgart what he thought of the neoliberal course of the coalition partner FDP. It was about social issues, the whole package: pensions, more appreciation for people in nursing professions, education. “20 years ago,” many in the SPD also took part in “neoliberal talk,” said Klingbeil. Luckily that is over.
SPD leader Klingbeil dissatisfied with FDP demands for Germany
Today the aim must be to finally close the gap between rich and poor, said Klingbeil: “I want 95 percent of the people in this country to have more money in their pockets. But in order to do that, the top five percent, who have an incredible amount, have to give something up.” And no one should have to work until “72 or longer.” His party's solution: more inheritance tax, a higher top tax and investments in education and health. To do this, Germany also has to go into debt: “You have to say it to Finance Minister Christian Lindner: The debt brake must not be a brake on the future.”
This is pretty much exactly the opposite of what the FDP has now written into a 12-point plan. The resolution paper calls, among other things, for the abolition of pensions at 63, as well as sanctions for citizens' benefits and that the federal government should not decide on any new social benefits for at least three years. The criticism follows immediately. “If the FDP believes that the economy is doing better when craftsmen, nurses or educators are doing worse, then they are hugely mistaken,” said Klingbeil about the FDP initiative when asked.
Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) on the new traffic light dispute: “No reason to be upset”
FDP board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann considers the criticism within and outside the coalition to be much ado about nothing. “We have a federal party conference of the FDP next Sunday. This is a lead petition for that and not a divorce paper,” she told IPPEN.MEDIA. The 12-point paper itself is “rather an overall concept for overcoming economic weakness, with important aspects of social systems”: “We are therefore simply fulfilling our programmatic mandate. Given the fact that the Greens and the SPD also constantly decide on concepts that are not covered by the coalition agreement, there is no reason to be upset.”
Uwe Jun, party researcher and professor of political science at the University of Trier, sees it somewhat differently. For him, the FDP demands are a clear expression of his will to no longer go along with the positions of the coalition partners. “She sees that Germany is at the bottom of the list of industrialized nations when it comes to economic growth and wants to take a different approach, especially in economic policy,” said Jun IPPEN.MEDIA. “It is remarkable how the demands affect the core areas of the coalition partners, i.e. the energy policy of the Greens and the social policy of the SPD. The initiative is provocative.”
CDU politician Frei: Olaf Scholz is “in a parallel world”
Since the traffic light coalition is currently in negotiations for the 2025 budget, the FDP is in a position of strength, according to Jun. Chancellor Olaf Scholz needs the FDP votes. “She can now mark where she believes there is a way out of the economic misery,” said Jun about the timing of the list of demands.
Thorsten Frei, parliamentary director of the CDU/CSU in the Bundestag, also observes an “economic misery”. Frei blames the Chancellor for the bad situation and says that Scholz is in a parallel world when he talks about an economic “turnaround”. “Wide sections of the industry are stunned by his refusal to deal with the actual situation. At least the FDP shows a sense of reality in the traffic lights,” Frei told our editorial team. Frei and the Union welcome the economic policy positions of the Free Democrats, but they also have criticism ready. “However, the truth also means that the self-proclaimed progress coalition is standing still. Nothing remains of this paper except beautiful words,” said Frei.
Traffic light minority government without FDP “not ruled out”
It is not so clear to party researcher Jun that the FDP initiative will mark the end of the coalition, as CSU leader Markus Söder speculated. “I think new elections are out of the question. These are only possible if Scholz asks a vote of confidence – this would mean he would end his own chancellorship prematurely without the votes of the FDP.” However, the scientist adds: “If the budget is for 2025, I do not consider a minority government without the participation of the FDP excluded.”
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