The vice chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Wolfgang Kubicki, believes that the existence of the party is at risk if it fails to clear the 5% hurdle in the upcoming federal election.
“I will be honest, even if my heart is attached to liberalism and the FDP” Kubicki told the Welt am Sonntag. “If the Free Democrats do not reach the next German Bundestag, the party of liberalism in Germany will eventually cease to exist.” The FDP would lose structures, individuals and financial resources, “which are necessary to maintain or rebuild a party organization across the board.”
However, Kubicki still expects the FDP to return to the Bundestag, as nearly 30% of voters are still undecided. “We can reach seven percent if we don’t make any more mistakes” the party vice chairman said, supporting the proposal by FDP leader Christian Lindner to formally exclude a coalition with the Greens at the party convention on Sunday.
Kubicki criticized the Greens for their perceived obstruction in government, citing the example of the delayed introduction of a payment card for asylum seekers, which could be used to purchase cash at Green Party shops. “Black-Green is the most unpopular among a bourgeois voter clientele” he said, adding that the FDP could prevent this by entering the Bundestag, after which the Greens would be excluded from government.
The Bundestag vice president also appealed to the SPD and Greens to “restrain” the protesters who are demonstrating against the Union and FDP. “They are relying entirely on the devil’s exorcism using the fascist hammer against the Union and us. We must live with that” Kubicki said. “I simply ask that both parties exert a moderating influence on the protesters. We cannot allow it in Germany for people who want to defend democracy to at the same time trample democratic principles. Whoever occupies party offices, damages cars and posters and speaks of hatred towards the CDU is not a democrat but is on the way to abolishing democratic principles.