Opinion: The FDP is also harming itself with blockades

Opinion

According to Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the planned pension reform will not be launched this week either. When asked whether the pension package should pass the federal cabinet this week, the FDP leader answered with a clear “no” on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels. The Liberals have adopted a five-point paper for a “generationally fair budget policy” in which, among other things, they call for the abolition of the so-called pension at 63. They are demanding corrections to the statutory pension system and are campaigning for a “real stock pension”.

Which of course begs the question: why now? It was only ten weeks ago that Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner presented Pension Package II together with Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD). And now, without Germany’s economic data having changed significantly, the FDP is starting the next traffic light dispute over this very package. The compromise that the parties had agreed on no longer seems worth anything to the FDP. This makes reliable government work impossible.

FDP is also harming itself

Even if the Liberals see a need for improvement in the pension package, why not do so before the agreement has been announced? This gives the impression that the party only wants to put pressure on those departments that do not adhere to the budgets planned by Lindner for the 2025 budget. But the issue of pensions is far too important to be used as an outlet for tactical games, educational measures or even retaliation. Especially since this next dispute is likely to further worsen the already battered reputation of the traffic light government – and that of the FDP no less.

For better or worse, the public and the voters have to accept that an agreement with the Liberals lasts from 12 p.m. to noon. A risky game for a party that is struggling to reach the five percent hurdle in surveys – and is always suspected of pursuing elite and clientele politics. Questioning your pension at 63 seems extremely unsympathetic. After all, it’s about people who were born before 1953 and, now 63, have already paid contributions for 45 years. In addition, the limit for a pension without deductions is now over 64 years old. The SPD simply cannot give up on this key point if it somehow still wants to pass as a workers’ party.

An argument for the sake of arguing? Once again the question arises as to whether the FDP leadership actually knows that they are sitting on the government bench – and not in the opposition.