A senior official of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, has expressed her willingness to form a leadership duo for the party’s future.
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Strack-Zimmermann was asked if the current Bundestag Vice President, Wolfgang Kubicki, could be a part of the future leadership of the FDP. She replied, “It makes sense to have personalities that can address different groups within the FDP. But whether Mr Kubicki and I are the fresh start, I don’t know.”
Strack-Zimmermann attributed the party’s recent electoral defeats, including the recent Bundestag election, to a structural problem within the FDP, rather than a single issue or momentum. She stated that the party has been losing elections and losing its representatives for three years, except for the European Parliament election in the previous year.
According to Strack-Zimmermann, the FDP is increasingly perceived as a functional party, a reasonable corrective within a coalition. However, in a coalition, compromises must be made, which leads to voter disillusionment.