The FDP party conference shows that many liberals have identified the Greens as a traffic light problem.
The SPD is behind the heating plans - a dispute is imminent.
Berlin/Munich – For three days, the FDP assured itself at its party conference.
The conclusion of boss Christian Lindner on the Liberal homepage read rather technical, almost bureaucratic in the style of the once really existing socialism: "We Free Democrats stand up for our values and do our work accordingly."
Away from the rushes in Berlin, however, there were increasing signs of new Zoff in the traffic light coalition.
Because "left" remains the opponent.
Lindner had more catchy words ready at the party conference.
The FDP is fighting for a "modern, non-left-wing Germany" at traffic lights, he explained.
This can certainly be understood as a warning to the two coalition partners SPD and Greens, who are traditionally seen as left-wing.
But above all to the Greens.
You seem to be the problem bear of the alliance for many liberals at the moment.
FDP identifies Greens as a problem factor – Kubicki threatens traffic lights with “constructive willingness to conflict”
The statements made by the delegates over the three days of the FDP meeting came together to form a picture of the mood, the
AFP
news agency summed up : there was hardly any fundamental criticism at the "traffic light".
The SPD was criticized only very mildly.
The anger is directed primarily against the Greens.
The delegates expect the party leadership to assert liberal positions in the coalition, if necessary by fighting them.
With a view to these expectations, party deputy Wolfgang Kubicki described the basic attitude of the FDP to the coalition with these words: "constructive willingness to conflict".
FDP party congress and the consequences: Lindner holds back - "heating rebels" rant heartily
Lindner currently sees his role in the party as promoting understanding for the coalition and the constraints of government action.
Lindner did not agree with the criticism of the Greens, which was repeatedly voiced at the party congress.
In a kind of division of labor, the FDP leader is now leaving substantive demarcations and political escalation to other top liberals - such as his deputy Kubicki or Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai.
Lindner could "point out in the traffic light coalition that, measured against the actual will of his party, he is already willing to compromise in person," commented the
Mitteldeutsche Zeitung
on Monday.
"Pure FDP" was a catchphrase that was heard again and again at the party conference.
In a series of resolutions, the delegates strengthened the classic liberal profile in economic and financial policy.
This return to the core of liberal convictions is almost automatically accompanied by a distancing of the FDP from its coalition partner, the Greens.
Traffic light coalition: The Scholz cabinet at a glance
Traffic light coalition: The Scholz cabinet at a glance
This applies to the resolutions of the party congress against a ban on oil and gas heating, for the possibility of returning to nuclear energy, the demands for an expansion of genetic engineering, the approval of shale gas extraction and the relaxation of restrictions on pesticides.
Robert Habeck's heating law is "exemplary for the wrong climate and energy policy of the Greens," it said in a resolution.
He was brought in by a group known as "heating rebels".
However, a motion by the Young Liberals to get back into nuclear power did not find a majority.
The heating dispute in particular could become a permanent bone of contention after the FDP party conference.
Because the FDP can now refer to its delegate vote – while the SPD on Monday sided with the Greens, who had already been heavily plucked in the coalition.
The new regulation is "necessary if we want to achieve our climate goals," emphasized General Secretary Kevin Kühnert after a board meeting.
"Every month we waste is a lost month," he added.
The Greens had recently also suffered defeats with the climate law or with the combustion engine.
Even the first thoughts about blockades against their own laws in the Bundestag stirred.
With whom does the FDP want to coalition?
Lindner now also locates Union tax policy on the left
By the way, the longing for a black-yellow coalition with the CDU/CSU currently seems weak at best in the FDP.
The liberals took the CDU's current deliberations on a higher top tax rate to court with relish.
"I am firmly convinced that these are more black-green loosening exercises," said Lindner.
He had previously
harshly criticized the Union plans in the
Munich newspaper Merkur .
"The Union's considerations sound nice, but they have important implications," he warned.
57 percent tax rate from 80,000 euros are possible.
"With these considerations, the CDU is approaching the ideas of the left-wing part of the Greens." And this wing of the government partner seems to remain a group of horrors for Lindner.
Even after almost a year and a half of traffic lights.
(
fn/AFP
)
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Achille Abboud
