According to Christian Lindner, the leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the responsibility for the failed legislative proposal lies with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and not his own party. The CDU presented the proposal to the Bundestag without previously consulting with the FDP, Lindner stated in an interview with RTL/ntv on Tuesday.
The proposal’s failure to pass due to the lack of support from the FDP faction is the CDU’s responsibility, Lindner argued. “Did Merz ask the FDP if it would agree to the proposal? Did he even contact us before presenting the bill? It’s not the task of the non-submitting faction to secure majorities. That is the responsibility of the submitting faction, which bears the responsibility” Lindner said.
Lindner also emphasized that the FDP was not even asked to fully agree with the proposal. The party had attempted to bring together the SPD, Greens, Union and FDP in a four-hour break to form a united front. “The attempt failed due to the SPD and the Greens, particularly the Greens, who want to expand family benefits” Lindner said in response to a question about how the FDP can demand a united front when not all of its faction members were on board. Lindner referred to the missing votes within the Union faction in response.