(de-news.net) – Two weeks prior to the Bundestag elections, FDP leader Christian Lindner has called for a comprehensive realignment of economic policy during a party conference held in Potsdam. He asserted that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) should not be countered through moral appeals but by demonstrating that an economic turnaround is achievable. Lindner advocated for the defense of Germany’s political center, underscoring that the latter must not be intimidated or compromised, as doing so would alter the nature of the country.

Wolfgang Kubicki, the FDP’s deputy chairman, contended that Germany’s prosperity had deteriorated under the stewardship of Economic Minister Robert Habeck, putting social stability at peril. He critiqued the high tax burden in Germany and the inadequacy of state services in return. Furthermore, Kubicki called for more stringent asylum policies and endorsed a coalition between the Union and the FDP to preclude the Green Party’s participation in the government.

During the Potsdam conference, delegates ratified an election manifesto delineating nine “checkpoints” as prerequisites for future government participation. This manifesto explicitly excluded the possibility of a coalition with the Greens while expressing a preference for a coalition with the Union. The FDP also indicated a willingness to form a coalition with the Union and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Current polling data places the FDP at approximately four percent, with the CDU/CSU distancing itself from the FDP. The Union’s chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz, characterized votes for the FDP as “lost votes.” In the event of the dissolution of the traffic light coalition, polling projections suggest that the FDP might fail to surpass the five percent threshold necessary to enter the Bundestag.