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FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing: "If you constantly look at other parties, you weaken yourself"
Photo: Janine Schmitz / photothek.net / imago images / photothek
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Wissing, there are state elections in Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday.
You are Vice Prime Minister of a coalition with the SPD and the Greens.
Are you the biggest traffic light fan in the FDP?
Wissing:
Traffic light coalitions in other federal states failed early on.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, we showed that self-confident Free Democrats can successfully assert themselves and work in a coalition with two partners.
SPIEGEL:
Shortly before the election, the values of the FDP in Rhineland-Palatinate rose to eight to nine percent in a survey.
Do you want to continue the traffic light?
Wissing:
We want to continue to govern successfully and shape liberal politics.
To person
Volker Wissing, born 1970 in Landau in the Palatinate, has been FDP General Secretary since September 2020.
The lawyer has been Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economics in a coalition with the SPD and the Greens in his home country Rhineland-Palatinate since 2016.
At the same time he is the FDP country chief.
From 2004 to 2013 Wissing was a member of the Bundestag.
SPIEGEL:
There will also be elections in Baden-Württemberg on March 14th, where green and black could also be replaced by a traffic light.
Two traffic light governments in the republic before the federal election - what does that mean for the federal government?
Wissing:
The signal would be: The FDP has become more independent and free.
The party landscape has changed, the camps have dissolved, and we as Free Democrats have followed this process of change.
SPIEGEL:
The traffic light is not exactly the favorite model in the federal FDP.
Wissing:
My election as General Secretary initially irritated many in the party because they perceived me primarily as a member of a traffic light government.
But for me it's not about coalitions, I'm about a strong, independent FDP.
I fight for this together with the management team.
We learned in 2013 - if you constantly look at other parties, you weaken yourself.
SPIEGEL:
What do you say to the skeptics in your own party?
Wissing:
We do not allow government coalitions to fail on principle, even at the federal level, because one has never worked with a particular party.
We are a responsible, constructive party, so we don't just want to decide on content at party conferences, we want to confidently carry it into society.
Those who want a freer country achieve more in the government than in the opposition.
SPIEGEL:
What does that mean for the federal election campaign?
"As a matter of principle, the FDP does not refuse."
Wissing: As a
matter of principle, the FDP does not refuse.
We refuse wherever our content is denied, as was the case with Jamaica 2017.
But we've left that behind.
We can make a difference in government.
When we are there, we bring the value of freedom into a coalition, be it in economic, security or social policy.
SPIEGEL:
Are there limits?
Wissing:
Of course.
We cannot join a government that disregards people's individual freedom of choice.
SPIEGEL:
Would the FDP also be ready for talks about a traffic light in which the Chancellor would ultimately be set by the Greens?
Wissing:
What matters is whether we find ourselves in a government in terms of content in such a way that we can bring our values and content to society.
In principle, we are ready to talk to all democratic parties about cooperation.
On the other hand, there can be no cooperation with parties like the AfD and the Left Party.
We don't want extremism in Germany.
SPIEGEL:
The CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate was once a proud party of the Chancellor and Prime Minister, we think of Helmut Kohl or Bernhard Vogel.
How do you see the situation of the CDU under Christian Baldauf in your state?
Wissing:
The Rhineland-Palatinate CDU is suffering from the long opposition work.
The CDU has been fighting the FDP for years - since Angela Merkel became federal chairwoman - also in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The CDU would prefer to see us there in the extra-parliamentary opposition.
For the Free Democrats, this is not just a disadvantage.
The behavior of the Union has led to the dissolution of the former bourgeois-conservative camp.
A black-yellow coalition has become one option among others, but it is no longer automatic.
SPIEGEL:
There are also other signals.
The new CDU chairman Armin Laschet, who leads a black-yellow coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia, has repeatedly praised the FDP, as has recently been the CSU boss Markus Söder.
Wissing:
We kindly take note of the comments from the CDU and CSU.
But we are also confident enough not to depend on the Union's applause or criticism.
It is more important to me that our positions are approved by the electorate than by the Union.
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After the coalition agreement was signed in Mainz in 2016: Green leader Thomas Petry, SPD chairman Malu Dreyer and FDP leader Volker Wissing
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa
SPIEGEL:
The CDU and CSU are currently being criticized for two members of the Bundestag who received commissions for arranging corona protective masks.
Will that become a burden for the Union shortly before the state elections?
Wissing:
It would be surprising if it weren't for that.
However, the MPs not only harmed their party, but also to politics as a whole.
When politicians use a state emergency primarily for personal gain, it casts a very bad light on the political class.
It was therefore right and important that the leadership of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group took action immediately.
However, there are still irregularities in the procurement of masks by the Federal Ministry of Health.
It is not enough for the Union to punish MPs but leave the minister unmolested.
SPIEGEL:
Are you actually happy that the Chancellor is stopping and no longer holding possible exploratory talks in autumn 2021?
"The CDU has been fighting the FDP for years."
Wissing:
Angela Merkel and the FDP, it did and does not go together, with all due respect for their performance.
She cannot do anything with political liberalism.
During the Jamaica explorations, there was little willingness on their part to accept liberal positions.
SPIEGEL:
In Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer organized a group of chairs five years ago so that those involved in the traffic light could get to know each other better.
How was that for you?
Wissing:
That is perhaps the difference between Malu Dreyer and Angela Merkel.
Malu Dreyer also sees a coalition as a team, Angela Merkel exclusively as a political alliance of convenience.
SPIEGEL: But
Stuhlkreis also sounds a little esoteric.
Wissing:
Especially in a coalition with parties that come from very different positions and are shaped by different people, it is important to get to know and trust each other.
It remains to be seen whether a circle of chairs is required for this.
A coalition in which those responsible have trust and understanding for one another, however, works more successfully and stably than a purely expedient alliance.
SPIEGEL:
Would you recommend such a get-to-know model for a coalition in the federal government?
Wissing:
I don't make any specifications.
Trust building can be done in a variety of ways.
The FDP leaders once met in a hip hotel in Berlin-Friedrichshain, in a lounge, with vegan food and avant-garde drinks.
SPIEGEL:
We're just imagining it ...
Wissing:
We wanted to rethink.
The unusual form of the meeting and its atmosphere helped us to question our work as well as ourselves and to see it from a different perspective.
We sat together in jeans and sneakers, suits were taboo.
The meeting did something to us in a positive way.
SPIEGEL:
What is the basis of a functioning coalition like the traffic light in Mainz?
Wissing:
Those involved must be able and willing to work together in the coalition and at the cabinet table.
A government must be able to coordinate internally quickly.
It is important that all partners accept that no one is in possession of absolute truths.
Everyone must be ready to accept each other's concerns and points of view.
We live that in Mainz.
SPIEGEL:
What do you mean by that?
Wissing:
If your coalition partner keeps selling you his arguments for days in the hopes that he might still be able to convince you, at some point I will get annoyed.
In a coalition of different partners, the magic word is »empathy«.
You have to get involved with the other and not just look after your own sensitivities.
"Everyone has known since 2017 that the FDP, if you get too mixed up with it, is ready to draw conclusions and get up from the negotiating table."
SPIEGEL:
FDP leader Christian Lindner emphasizes that the black and yellow option in the federal government has more supporters in polls than any other coalition.
How does that fit in with your traffic light ambitions?
Wissing:
If the Union and FDP treat each other with respect, there are still many overlaps in economic and financial policy.
I also have no "traffic light ambitions", my ambitions are primarily for a strong FDP that confidently stands up for its content and wants to implement it, regardless of possible political partners.
SPIEGEL:
And
what about
the SPD?
Wissing:
When I look at the draft of the SPD election program, there are many points that we see differently: health insurance, inheritance tax, wealth tax.
SPIEGEL:
You have been emphasizing for months that you want to participate in government in the federal government.
Are you not restricting your scope for explorations from the outset?
Wissing:
Everyone has known since 2017 that the FDP, if you get too mixed up with it, is ready to draw conclusions and get up from the negotiating table.
This also had a certain educational effect on the CDU and CSU.
But we also say clearly to the voters of the FDP: We want to govern.
SPIEGEL:
So opposition is crap for the FDP?
Wissing:
The FDP is not elected as an opposition party.
In times of Corona, we initially supported many federal measures.
Out of the opposition we defended civil liberties and civil rights in an extraordinary situation and our counter-proposals got through.
The FDP is a responsible and constructive party with a strong will to shape things.
We have very intense debates about our program.
Our members who take part and our voters want to see this implemented.
The Free Democrats are a shaping party, not a preventing party.
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