Former FDP member Volker Wissing has called on the party to clarify its substantive direction, saying the crucial question is what offer it will make to citizens in the future. Speaking to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Friday, he criticised the current leadership, asserting that under party chief Christian Dürr the FDP is following a “libertarian course” chasing an alleged zeitgeist and is drifting to the right. Wissing added that the party has not performed well at elections and that it pinches the blame on external factors rather than on itself. He noted that he has previously served as the Liberals’ secretary general.
Both Dürr and Henning Höne, the FDP’s state leader in North Rhine‑Westphalia, are vying for the position of party chair. The party’s conference, where a decision will be made, is scheduled for May.
After the breakdown of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Wissing left the FDP and has since remained in the cabinet as an independent.