Lindner survives question of trust and admits "misjudgment of the AfD"

After the controversial election of the Thuringian prime minister, FDP leader Christian Lindner is criticized. He wants the confidence of his party to be confirmed.

• In Thuringia , Thomas Kemmerich ( FDP ) was elected Prime Minister against the other party line with AfD votes.
• After 25 hours in office, he announced his resignation after massive protests.
• FDP leader Christian Lindner has called a special session of his party. He wants to ask the question of trust.
• Lindner had been criticized for not immediately distancing himself from the process after Kemmerich's election.
• Kemmerich himself stated that he was always in contact with Lindner.

FDP decision on Lindner made: "Not expected that this party goes so far"

Update at 3.40 pm: Christian Lindner ends the press conference and continues the special session with his party colleagues. This was only interrupted for the brief statement . However, the party still has a lot to discuss and there are still many questions to be answered .

Update at 3:36 pm: The FDP bears responsibility for the situation in Thuringia. Therefore the party also takes responsibility. For Thomas Kemmerich, Lindner also sees a political future in the future, since he has corrected a political mistake and so "ensures integrity". "New elections would be the clearest way," Lindner says when asked by the press in Berlin. Lindner says that this entails a high political risk, but it is possible to restore legitimacy and the confidence of the voters.

Christian Lindner: "No cooperation with the AfD"

There can be no form of cooperation with the AfD and there is never any cooperation with the AfD with him as party leader . However, Lindner cannot answer what the new elections might look like. Regarding the federal CDU's proposal that the SPD and the Greens present a compromise candidate for the election of the prime minister , the FDP party leader referred to his party's parliamentary group in Thuringia.

With the confidence vote of his party, he intended to continue his political activities. "And precisely because there is criticism from outside, you have to check whether your colleagues share the criticism and which criticism they share", Lindner explains the question of trust .

Update at 3:23 pm: “It is essential for us that clear boundaries are drawn. In Thuringia, too, our colleagues and Thomas Kemmerich have drawn a clear line to the AfD, ”party leader Lindner continues. He also “succumbed to an incorrect assessment of the AfD. We did not - and neither did I - expect this party to go so far, ”criticizes Christian Lindner. " It was a mistake to run in the third ballot and accept the election under these conditions ," he admitted.

Especially since CDU boss Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had sent him a text message in the run-up to the election that the nomination of a candidate in the third round could be "fire-threatening". "I was not aware that the CDU parliamentary group would vote unanimously for the FDP candidate ," Lindner admitted to the public.

Christian Lindner: Question of trust after Thuringia-Eklat - decision made

Update at 3:08 p.m .: Christian Lindner speaks publicly. "We have a very intensive and open debate on the Federal Executive Board, which is still ongoing," says the party leader. "We agree to such an extent that we were able to give them an important question of trust. I am grateful to my party for expressing confidence in me here on the Federal Executive Board with a strong result. "

Lindner sees the election in Thuringia as an "emergency for political culture - especially for the FDP". “We deeply regret the doubts about the fundamental orientation of our party. We have always drawn a clear line to the AfD in the past few months, ”Lindner says. "The AfD focuses on exclusion, where we focus on tolerance," he sends a signal.

Update at 3:03 pm: As reported by dpa , Christian Lindner may remain party leader . With 33 votes in favor , one against and two abstentions, he was given a clear majority vote of confidence .

I would like to thank the federal executive board of @fdp for their trust and the strong result. We had an intensive, open debate and agreed on our course and confirmed our compass of values. thread

Update at 2:54 p.m .: The special meeting of the FDP party executive lasts longer than expected. The official statement by party leader Christian Lindner should have started at 2 p.m. That should now be the case around 3 p.m.

Update at 12.52 p.m .: The special meeting of the FDP party executive has been running in Berlin since 12 p.m. Party leader Christian Lindner also wants to ask the question of trust after the debacle in the Thuringian Prime Minister election. For Lindner, today's Friday could be a fateful day, because he had previously faced headwind from his own party . Julia Schröder , chairwoman of the Young Liberals , was distant from Mannheimer Morgen. When asked whether Julis Lindner would support the board, she replied: "We are still discussing this." First of all, it has to be clarified "whether mistakes have been made that should have been avoided," said Schröder. She wanted to ask some questions at the meeting and then decide based on the answers.

FDP boss Christian Lindner alongside Vice Wolfgang Kubicki (left) and Secretary General Linda Teuteberg at the special meeting of the board.

© dpa / Britta Pedersen

After the Thuringian election: the leader of the young liberals is distant

" If Christian Lindner knew that Mr. Kemmerich wanted to accept the election - which he denies - he would no longer be acceptable to me, " added the July chair. She described Kemmerich's behavior as "characterless". And SPD boss Norbert Walter-Borjans also criticized Lindner sharply in conversation with the Rheinische Post. "In November 2017, FDP chairman Christian Lindner saw himself unable to form a coalition of democratic parties in the federal government," recalled Walter-Borjans. “Obtaining a straw man from his party with the help of enemies of democracy was obviously easier for him. He disqualified himself as party leader. "

In the Maybritt Illner talk show, world editor-in-chief Dagmar Rosenfeld also handed out Lindner on Thursday evening. "Politics is for professionals ," she said, alluding to Lindner's statement in the course of the Fridays for Future debate. At the time, he said that climate protection was "a thing for professionals" and had to accept massive criticism.

And apparently the FDP voters also did not respond well to the events in the Thuringian Prime Minister election. A current Forsa poll predicts devastating consequences for the Thuringian liberals.

After Thuringia election: FDP leader Christian Lindner raises a question of trust

Update of February 7, 8:17 a.m .: FDP leader Christian Lindner asked today about the events in the election of the prime minister in Thuringia the question of trust at a special meeting of the party executive. The politician also announced this in advance on Twitter.

Due to the special situation, I have called a special meeting of the federal executive board of @fdp for tomorrow and will also ask the #confidence question there. CL

An official statement by the FDP chief is then scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Leading politicians from his party have already assured him of their support in advance. "He has my trust," said the FDP vice-group leader in the Bundestag, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff in the ARD morning magazine. The FDP vice chair Katja Suding made similar comments. She said on the Bavarian radio that she assumes that "the federal executive Christian Lindner will express the trust today".

After the Thuringian election: FDP politicians support and praise Lindner

Both emphasized that Lindner could have persuaded the FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich * in Thuringia to resign from the post of prime minister. "He has achieved what the critics of the Thuringian events have asked for," said Suding on the radio program Morning.

Lambsdorff said that the events in Thuringia, where Kemmerich was elected Prime Minister on Wednesday with the votes of the AfD, had "surprised and also a little dumbfounded" within the FDP . He was therefore “very happy” that Lindner had managed to convince Kemmerich to resign. "I think the damage will then be repaired, and I hope it doesn't stay too long." The events in Thuringia have generated strong reactions in German and international media as well as at the federal level *.

Lindner After Thuringia election: FDP Vice Lambsdorff emphasizes the autonomy of the state associations

At the same time, Lamdsdorff pointed out that the regional associations were "autonomous". A political party is "not like a company where there is a boss upstairs who tells the department heads that this and that has to happen, and if it doesn't, they are kicked out," said Lambsdorff. "That's not how it works."

What happened in Thuringia * was a "decision of the Thuringian state association". "What a mistake - the mistake is now being turned back."

Update of February 6, 3:29 pm: FDP leader Christian Lindner wants to ask the party leadership after the events in the election of the Thuringian Prime Minister. To this end, the Federal Executive Board should meet for a special meeting on Friday, Lindner announced on Thursday in Erfurt.

After Thuringia election: That's why FDP boss Lindner asks the question of trust

“After today's decisions here in Erfurt, it is possible for me to continue as chairman. But I want to make sure that our management body is legitimized, ”said Lindner . The FDP chief traveled to Erfurt on Thursday for crisis talks. Subsequently, the newly elected FDP Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich * announced that he would make his office available. The FDP faction wants to apply for the dissolution of the state parliament in order to bring about a new election.

Lindner called this the "only right decision". "Any kind of cooperation or dependency with the AfD must not exist for a democratic party in Germany." Lindner asked the CDU to join the initiative for a new election. “We as Free Democrats have clarified the situation. We now expect the same from the Union and its Federal President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer . "

In the "ARD morning magazine" Kemmerich had indicated that Lindner was always informed about the events: "I was in constant contact with Christian Lindner. We also discussed what we had decided here in Thuringia. He said the decision was ultimately made the Thuringian Association. "

Lindner after Thuringia election - FDP man Kemmerich: "resignation inevitable"

Update of February 6, 2:37 p.m .: Just 25 hours after his election *, the new Thuringian Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich (FDP), who succeeded Bodo Ramelow * on Wednesday, announced his resignation. "The resignation is inevitable," said Kemmerich on Thursday after a crisis talk with FDP leader Christian Lindner in Erfurt. He resigned in order to "remove the taint of AfD support from the Prime Minister's office".

The circumstances of his choice left no other option, because the AfD had "tried with a perfidious trick to damage democracy". Kemmerich was elected Prime Minister of Thuringia on Wednesday with votes from the CDU and AfD. Thereupon there were immediate demands for resignation and new elections, also in Kemmerich's own party.

Linder had gone to Erfurt in the morning to persuade Kemmerich to resign. Nobody forced him to resign, Kemmerich said after the interview.

Update of February 6, 2:00 p.m .: Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken after the election of Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) as the new Prime Minister. In drastic words, she goes to the press in South Africa. She also reacted to the attitude of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Markus Söder.

FDP chief Lindner poses a question of trust after Thuringia election

News of February 5, 9:31 pm: The election of the FDP head of state Thomas Kemmerich as the new Thuringian prime minister with the support of the CDU and AfD has triggered a political earthquake. The presidium of the federal CDU unanimously recommend new elections, announced party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Wednesday evening . The SPD, the Left Party and the Greens criticized it as a historical breach of taboo that a prime minister had come into office for the first time with the help of a right-wing party.

Kramp-Karrenbauer accused her party colleagues in Thuringia of violating the party's decisions in the election. They see "no stable basis for the now elected prime minister". It is now up to Kemmerich to decide whether he "wants to remain Prime Minister of Höcke's mercy or not," said the CDU leader, looking at the far right Thuringian head of the AfD, Björn Höcke.

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

Rubric list image: © AFP / ADAM BERRY