Those who hug with the zeitgeist



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The FDP is missing out in terms of content. Instead of honing his liberal profile, he embraces the spirit of the times. The Berlin party congress was a sad example of this.

“We are worried about you!” Christian Lindner, leader of the FDP.

Revierfoto / www.imago-images.de

At first glance everything went well. With Volker Wissing, the FDP has a new secretary general and the Free Democrats have one year until the federal elections to show why a liberal party is needed in Germany. The state, Wissing said in his request speech to delegates, must get its fingers out of the mass of the economy as soon as possible. “Mission Awakening” was also the slogan of the party’s conference this Saturday in Berlin.

Alone, the party is fermenting. Christian Lindner also remains federal president because a layoff would come at an inopportune time shortly before the federal election. If the FDP fails to enter parliament next year, it would look different. Should I just get in but not co-rule? Lindner would be history as party leader. His “all-rounder” Volker Wissing did not achieve a resounding result this Saturday with 83 percent of the delegate’s votes in the election for Secretary General. That also fits the picture.

If you read in the media about a crisis in the FDP, there is little you could do about it, the party leader said in his speech. After all, you would only find yourself in a crisis if you didn’t know what it represents. But that is not a problem for the FDP. “We are worried about you!” called into the hall. It could hardly have sounded more arbitrary. Lindner was not alone in this.

When the left crushes the liberal

In the general “debate” the delegates made all possible demands. If you were friendly, you could talk about diversity. In addition to the request for support to the interventionist environmental policy from the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a complaint was heard about the allegedly too low proportion of delegates with a migratory background and also the concern that the pandemic of the crown could restore the traditional image of men and women. have solidified.

Now it is typical of party congresses that different opinions are discussed there. But for the FDP in the current situation it is significant. What does this party really want to be, beyond its demand for a less directist economic and financial policy? Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who just failed in the Düsseldorf mayoral election, probably wouldn’t even understand the question. It does not matter if you are liberal, social liberal or left liberal, she said at the party congress. All these terms belonged together. Is it really so? With some supposed liberals in the FDP one gets the impression that the left or supposedly social has almost crushed the liberal.

In the end, it was Linda Teuteberg, of all people, Wissing’s ugly predecessor, who responded to zeitgeist hugs very directly. According to Teuteberg, zeitgeist is neither good nor bad in itself. Rather, you always have to critically question what serves the dignity and freedom of people. That applies even more to liberals. Right now there are many zeitgeist trends that are anything but positive. We must not follow them, but confront them, said the outgoing secretary general to applause. Unlike the party leader, she was applauded as soon as she took the stage.

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