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28 Sep, 2021

FDP becomes kingmaker after federal elections in Germany

Last Sunday’s federal elections in Germany marked a historic day for ALDE Party member Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP). The party won 11.5% of the votes, reaching for the first time a double-digit result in two consecutive federal elections. With this result, FDP becomes the fourth biggest force in the German parliament. Olaf Scholz, leader of Sozialdemokratische Partei (SPD), won the election with 25.7%, beating the Union of Christian Democrats by 1.6%.

Party leader and FDP lead candidate Christian Lindner led a liberal independent campaign with a special focus on individual freedoms, education and investments in businesses and technological developments. Thanking all his supporters, Lindner stated:

“Many thanks to all who have made the value of freedom their political project this year! The political centre was strengthened, and this is good news for our democracy. We have a special responsibility and do not underestimate the dimension of the challenges facing our country...

We want to generate prosperity and not just distribute it. We see education as the most important social task. We will carry our independence from the election campaign into the post-election period.”

The day after the election, Lindner gave a press conference during which he underlined the important role FDP will play in the formation of the next government:

“The voters have spoken and expressed their desire for change. The Greens and Free Democrats have a big responsibility in shaping the future of German politics […]  Therefore, the Executive Committee decided to appoint Secretary General Volker Wissing and I to start pre-explanatory talks with the Greens. In this way we want to see what our common grounds are and what could be possible to build a new Germany.”

ALDE Party acting co-President Timmy Dooley congratulated FDP and Lindner on this excellent result: “As European liberals, we always like to see our member parties succeeding in elections and I am especially pleased that the FDP looks set to increase its share of the vote from the last election and elect more liberal members to the next parliament.”

You can read his statement in full here

Dooley was joined in social media by other liberal well-wishers, such as ALDE Party acting co-President Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP, ALDE Party Vice President Alexander Graf Lambsdorff and European Parliament Vice President Nicola Beer MEP.

In these elections, voter turnout grew to 77%, with FDP being the most popular party among first-time voters.

In addition to federal elections, state elections were also held in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where FDP secured 7.5% and 5.8% of the vote respectively. This latter win is particularly remarkable as it is the first time since 2006 that FDP has reached the threshold in the north-eastern state.

Photo credit: Nicola Beer

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