Berlin Christian Lindner’s (FDP) plans were suddenly thrown overboard. The Federal Minister of Finance sat in various rounds at the spring conference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington all Wednesday. He had repeatedly tested himself for Corona on the trip, including before a planned dinner with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The positive corona test not only upsets Lindner’s plans at the IMF conference. The federal party conference of the FDP is also on Saturday, and the chairman wanted to give a speech at 12 noon. Lindner wanted to leave the IMF meeting early so that he could land in Berlin on Friday morning. Now the FDP leader is to speak to the delegates in Berlin via video link from Washington.
The double role as federal finance minister and party chairman is a double burden for Lindner even without a corona infection. The FDP party congress is a mood test after the start phase of the traffic light coalition. Leading FDP politicians describe the mood in the party in a similar way to the polls: not great, but okay.
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Most recently, the FDP was between eight and ten percent in nationwide surveys. That is less than the 11.5 percent in the federal elections, but sufficiently stable and, above all, far from the death zone of the five percent hurdle into which the FDP fell when it last took part in government.
Lindner’s goal in the first few months of the traffic light coalition is derived from this experience: He wants to prove that the FDP is capable of governing. Accordingly, he appears on his trip to Washington, detached, statesmanlike, with a calm and heavy tone. “There are years in which little history happens, and there are weeks that mark decades,” the Federal Minister of Finance opened his press conference in Washington. Then it comes to the isolation of Russia, the impact on the world economy, the risk of a “global debt crisis”.
>> Also read here: “We must act now”: Finance Minister Lindner warns of a “global debt crisis”
With the provision of proof of the ability to govern, the question now arises for the Federal Minister of Finance and FDP leader about the further party political strategy. A high-ranking FDP politician put the question like this: is it primarily about serving the liberal core clientele in order to secure the current position? Or do you want to appeal to broader groups of voters in government responsibility, as the Greens are trying to do? “We don’t have a clear answer yet,” he admits.
So far it has been: cooperation and confrontation
This can also be seen in dealings with the coalition partners, in the mixture of cooperation and confrontation. In the first few months, Lindner sometimes emphasized one thing and sometimes did the other.
The tone at the party congress should be similar. The Liberals want to pass a motion that also advocates heavy arms deliveries to Ukraine and thus also puts Olaf Scholz (SPD) under pressure. Several liberals predict that the topic of the Ukraine war and arms deliveries will take up a lot of space at the federal party conference. Lindner is also expected to comment on this.
A speech can therefore be expected that will probably not avoid criticism of Chancellor Scholz. After all, the FDP deliberately wants to go beyond the communication of the Chancellery with its position. Scholz’s reticence also caused frowns and incomprehension among the liberals.
At the same time, Lindner defended the Chancellor’s line in Washington against criticism. As Minister of Finance, Lindner has also sent signals in both directions. Right at the beginning of the traffic light coalition, he renamed his department the “Enablement Ministry”, which is supposed to organize money for the traffic light projects. Accordingly, he also implemented a resolution of the coalition agreement and transferred 60 billion unused corona credits to the energy and climate fund via a supplementary budget in order to use them to finance investments later.
The fight is still against speed limits and tax increases
For many liberals, the maneuver, which has been criticized as a trick of the debt brake, was not easy to digest. It’s the same with the record debts that Lindner has to take on this year, it should be more than 230 billion euros in total, including special assets for the Bundeswehr. Those are the times, according to people around Lindner, in a crisis you have to react pragmatically.
>> Also read here: Debate on tax hikes: are solos making a comeback because of the Ukraine war?
Lindner wants to use the special fund to secure the planned 100 billion euros in the Basic Law in such a way that they can really only be spent for defense purposes. In the FDP, this is definitely seen as a liberal signature. The FDP has also succeeded in setting the course with the return to more normality in corona policy. And with his tank discount, Lindner tried to push something through against the will of the coalition partners, even if he failed.
Otherwise, the FDP often sees itself in the traffic light as “preventing worse”, as a liberal puts it. She continues to fight against the speed limit on the Autobahn and against tax increases.
A responsible part of the federal government, which at the same time acts as a corrective to the SPD and the Greens, that is currently the image that Lindner wants to convey of the FDP, says a leading liberal. This is also exactly right for the initial phase of the traffic light. “But it’s not enough for the entire legislative period.”
More: The SPD and the war: why the chancellor isn’t tightening his Russia policy