Dhe North Rhine-Westphalian FDP state chairman Joachim Stamp is resigning from his post. Stamp announced in an email to the members of the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP that he would no longer stand for election to the board of directors of the largest FDP state association in January. The day after the state elections in mid-May, Stamp assumed responsibility for his party’s debacle and announced that he only wanted to remain in office for a few more months in order to “moderate” the process of his party’s reorientation. He also promised himself a “relentless reappraisal”.
While the Free Democrats, under their then top candidate Christian Lindner, had achieved their best ever 12.6 percent in NRW in 2017 and were able to form a coalition with the CDU, they fell to just 5.9 percent on May 15. As in 2010, the FDP was voted out of the North Rhine-Westphalian state government after just one legislative period, which was also an alarm signal for the federal FDP. Because without its largest state association — from which the majority of Berlin’s management staff comes — the FDP cannot do well.
Stamp now wrote in his email that he felt responsible for “ensuring an orderly new beginning”. Until the new state board is elected, he wants to “continue to shape” the reform process together with Secretary General Moritz Körner. In the black and yellow state government formed by Prime Minister Armin Laschet in 2017 and continued by Hendrik Wüst (CDU) in autumn 2021, Stamp was Minister for Integration and Family Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister.
The liberals in the traffic light dilemma
After the state elections, the Young Liberals (July) sharply criticized the FDP leadership around Stamp in an analysis paper. Prime Minister Wüst’s CDU was able to “campaign better with our own ideas than we ourselves,” it said. “Successes such as keeping special schools open, establishing talent schools or a balanced integration policy were too seldom attributed to the FDP. The successes for the coalition as a whole were all too often apprehended.” The FDP was also unable to distinguish itself from the CDU with strong personalities.
However, the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia has much deeper problems than its allegedly too lenient dealings with the CDU. Her multiple traffic light dilemma came first in the election campaign. On May 15, it was important to the many FDP voters who migrated to the CDU that Wüst remains prime minister. However, those who voted for the FDP had to reckon with a traffic light government in North Rhine-Westphalia. Even if they had wanted it, unlike in the previous state elections, the FDP could no longer have ruled out this alliance because of the Berlin traffic lights.
A camp election campaign to raise their profile or an active Jamaica election campaign were not possible. In addition, top Green politicians such as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economics Minister Robert Habeck have been perceived as the driving force behind the tripartite alliance since the start of the Ukraine war at the latest. FDP leader Christian Lindner is not, as hoped, permanently in the focus of attention with the office of federal finance minister he is absolutely striving for. Another factor was that older voters did not appreciate the decidedly libertarian corona course of the FDP, both at federal and state level. All these factors contributed to the party’s debacle in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In his letter to the members, Stamp writes that a “comprehensive structural process” began immediately after the state elections, “in which we work through our deficits in all areas”. Stamp also refers to a member survey that is now being thoroughly evaluated. “One thing can already be seen from the ongoing process. We have many great ideas and members who are willing to take on even more responsibility in the future.” He is pleased “with what commitment” the state parliamentary group “is preparing clear and constructive opposition work with the new chairman Henning Höne and the parliamentary manager Marcel Hafke “.
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