The leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Christian Lindner, has expressed his opinion that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is easily influenced. “The CDU is a chameleon, it always takes on the color of its coalition partner” Lindner told the German magazine “Stern”.
Lindner also criticized the CDU for having avoided necessary reforms in the past governments. He specifically mentioned the black-yellow federal government between 2009 and 2013, which he was a part of. “Schwarz-Gelb in the Bund in 2009 was special because Mrs. Merkel had already been changed by the Grand Coalition” Lindner said.
According to Lindner, at the evening of the coalition agreement signing in the NRW state delegation in 2009, some younger CDU and FDP members gathered together. When Angela Merkel walked by, they congratulated her on the start of their work together and she replied, “I’ll make sure you don’t set the country on fire.” Lindner said this made it clear to him that Merkel would not push for fundamental reforms.
Lindner emphasized that if a new black-yellow coalition is formed after the federal election, it must tackle deep-seated reforms. “We cannot continue to govern Germany as it has been since 2005” he warned.