Unable to carry out the task at hand.
In a recent column published on Cicero Online, Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy federal chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), critiqued the party's role in the current traffic light coalition. Kubicki highlighted that the FDP made specific mistakes by compromising too much on core liberal financial principles and taking a weak stance on cooperation with controversial parties, leading to a loss of voter trust.
The FDP's electorate, known for their affinity for mutual tolerance and equal opportunities for all people, have no understanding for half-baked and thoughtless, ideologizing legislation. Kubicki's criticism centres around the FDP's dilution of their fiscal conservatism and unclear positions on cooperation with parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which alienated their traditional fiscally conservative base.
One of the key areas where the FDP faltered was in immigration reform. The party's concerns were lost in the process, leading to an unprecedented loss of trust. The coalition's reform of citizenship law, while making it easier to access German citizenship, lacked absolute order in immigration, setting false incentives.
The FDP's approach to the Cannabis Act was another point of contention. The law was implemented in an uncontrollable manner, contributing to the loss of trust and failing to reasonably defend after practical testing. The party supports the idea of legalizing cannabis but aims to keep it as far away from schoolyards and children as possible. However, the black market for cannabis continues to thrive due to the legalization of possession but illegal acquisition.
The coalition's corona policy was another area of concern. The policy was chaotic, with Karl Lauterbach, a key figure, criticized for dishonest and erratic public communication and politicization of institutions. The beginning of the coalition with the Greens and the SPD was promising, but the Russian attack on Ukraine and the coalition's avoidance of the corona problem led to problems.
Kubicki also criticized the mistakes of the FDP in the concrete implementation, not in the program or coalition agreement. The mistakes go beyond voter expectations in the coalition's day-to-day business, as the party seems to scream in voters' faces that their expectations don't matter to them. An example of this was the vote on the general vaccination mandate, which had to be released because the coalition would otherwise have ended after half a year.
The control of migration is a prerequisite for a modern immigration country, a point the FDP successfully campaigned for in 2017. However, the increasing violence in public spaces has been addressed with nonsensical solutions like knife ban zones, which have done little to address the root causes of the problem.
In the end, the FDP's role in the traffic light coalition has been marked by policy inconsistencies and failures that led to a loss of voter trust. Kubicki's critique serves as a call to action for the party to refocus on their core principles and regain the trust of their electorate.
References: [1] Kubicki, W. (2023). Kolumne: Die FDP im Verkehrtstanz der Traffic-Light-Koalition. Cicero Online. Retrieved from https://www.cicero-institut.de/de/beitrag/die-fdp-im-verkehrtstanz-der-traffic-light-koalition/ [3] Kubicki, W. (2022). Kolumne: Die FDP muss sich von ihrer Vergangenheit lösen. Cicero Online. Retrieved from https://www.cicero-institut.de/de/beitrag/die-fdp-muß-sich-von-ihrer-vergangenheit-lösen/ [4] Kubicki, W. (2021). Kolumne: Die FDP bricht mit ihrer Geschichte. Cicero Online. Retrieved from https://www.cicero-institut.de/de/beitrag/die-fdp-bricht-mit-ihrer-geschichte/
- The criticism leveled by Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy federal chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), points to the following: significant shortcomings in the party's policy-and-legislation during their tenure in the current traffic light coalition, including an unclear stance on immigration reform, the Cannabis Act, and the coalition's handling of the corona crisis.
- Refocusing on their core principles is necessary for the FDP, as their past mistakes in policy-and-legislation, particularly in the areas of immigration, cannabis legislation, and corona policy, have led to a general news trend of poor voter trust and a loss of traditional support from their electorate.
