On Sunday 16 March, elections took place in the German states of Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Württemberg, where ALDE member Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) went to the voters with a clear message on economic growth, preserving civil rights and freedoms in times of pandemic and the elimination of digital deficits in states, administrations and schools.

FDP won 5,5% in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz and 10,5% in Baden-Württemberg. Party leader Christian Lindner was pleased to see the results and immediately called upon other party leaders Armin Laschet (CDU) and Markus Söder (CSU) to quickly correct Chancellor Angela Merkel's (CDU) coronavirus policy. In a statement to the media, Lindner said:

“These results are a clear sign to stop restricting the civil liberties of the German people during this pandemic. The election results in the southwest are also a vote on the crisis policy of the Union-led federal government. Consequences must be drawn from this immediately.”

Daniela Schmitt led the FDP branch in Rheinland-Pfalz to 5,5% win where it previously ran in a government coalition with Social Democrats and Greens. Voters gave the so-called “traffic light” government coalition a new mandate for another 5 years term. Schmitt sees this a rewarding result and says:

"This is how we have worked together over the past few years and that could and should be a vision for a possible continuation of this traffic light alliance."

In Baden-Württemberg Dr. Hans-Ulrich Rülke led FDP to a remarkable win of 10,5% of the votes. In his reaction, FDP top candidate Rülke says he is prepared to govern:

“This is a mandate to co-govern for stable and future-oriented policies… This is an important result in the election year of 2021 in Germany and we are ready to take responsibility. The FDP wants to join the government."

ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen and Vice-President Alexander Graf Lambsdorff were pleased to see the good results of the liberals and shared their messages of congratulations on Twitter.

🗳️🇩🇪 Congratulations @fdp and @c_lindner on your results in the regional elections in Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Württemberg.

These are promising results in a busy electoral year in Germany for liberals! @aldeparty @Lambsdorff #Landtagswahlen2021 https://t.co/oEPj3ggtgA

— Hans van Baalen (@hansvanbaalen) March 15, 2021

Hier wurde Geschichte geschrieben ✍🏻 - von ⁦@Schmitt_FDP⁩ und der ⁦@fdprlp⁩: In der Ampel 🚦 regieren und bestätigt werden - das gelingt nur, wenn die #FDP immer so aktiv und profiliert auftritt wie in Mainz. 💙💛💖-lichen Glückwunsch! #FDP #ltwrlp ⁦@Wissing⁩ pic.twitter.com/tvn3m0t5Ys

— Alexander Lambsdorff (@Lambsdorff) March 14, 2021

Mischter 11,5% 🏆 - ⁦@EUTheurer⁩ hat seine „Südwescht-FDP“⁦⁩ im Team mit ⁦@ruelke⁩ zu diesem historischen Erfolg geführt! Super! 💙💛💖-lichen Glückwunsch aus Berlin an die ⁦@FDPBW⁩! #ltwbw21 #FDP pic.twitter.com/Ze1WX0B0dM

— Alexander Lambsdorff (@Lambsdorff) March 14, 2021

Photo credit: photo of Daniela Schmitt, FDP top candidate for the 2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election, taken by P!ELmedia. 

Photo credit 2: photo of Dr. Hans-Ulrich Rülke, FDP top candidate for Baden-Württemberg state election, taken by FDP Bundestagsfraktion.