In Thuringia, the FDP’s top candidate is campaigning against his own federal party. He can rely on an old friend.
The man, who serves as Vice President of the German Bundestag for the FDP, leans casually on a railing. His sun-reddened face is contrasted by his bright white Olympic training jacket. In the background, glittering water and sailing boats can be seen. The man says into the cell phone camera: “My name is Wolfgang Kubicki and I support Thomas Kemmerich in the state elections in Thuringia on September 1st.”
This is how the short video that is currently being distributed as an ad on social networks begins. A federal FDP politician is promoting a regional FDP top candidate. Everything is completely normal.
Or rather not.
FDP made unprecedented decision
It is almost four years since the FDP’s federal leadership made a decision that had never been made before. The key sentence was:
The reason for this was a rather crazy chain of events that federal leader Christian Lindner will probably be reluctant to remember. In February 2020, Kemmerich accepted his election as prime minister with the help of the AfD without hesitation, only to have to resign shortly afterwards.
What followed was even more astonishing. As if nothing had happened, Kemmerich simply continued as head of the state party and parliamentary group, producing new scandals in the process. He demonstrated together with lateral thinkers and right-wing extremists against the Corona measures and shirked any responsibility for his government debacle. “The mistake was not accepting the election,” he said, “but the way the other democratic parties dealt with the situation.”
Lindner distanced himself from Kemmerich
At this point, Lindner had had enough. “The FDP executive committee unanimously distances itself from the current statements made by Thomas Kemmerich,” the press release said in October 2020. There would be “no financial, logistical or organizational support whatsoever” for him as the top candidate from the federal association.
Kubicki was already what he is today: Lindner’s first deputy. But he did not comment publicly on the decision. Board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann spoke instead. Kemmerich “took a wrong turn at some point and never turned back,” she tweeted. “It’s time for you to take the exit. Bye.”
But she was wrong, just like everyone else. Kemmerich lost his positions on the FDP federal executive board and as head of the liberal small business association. But he didn’t say “goodbye” at all. Almost a year later, the Thuringian FDP elected him as its head again, for which Wolfgang Kubicki, who else, traveled there especially.
No matter what happened to Kemmerich from then on, whether it was that a court annulled his city council mandate in Erfurt or that the FDP lost its parliamentary group status in the state parliament: the small state party stood by its chairman – and nominated him as its top candidate. There were no opposing candidates.
The federal party then cut off all transfers as announced. There will be donations for the election campaign in Thuringia, it was announced from Berlin. But Kemmerich was not bothered by that. He had long since started collecting donations from businesspeople, friends and other people who still like him, the short-term former Prime Minister.
Financially, says Kemmerich, things are looking great. The state party has now raised 550,000 euros – 300,000 euros more than five years ago. This almost compensates for the federal party’s subsidy, which was around 350,000 euros five years ago. “It all adds up,” he says.
The leading candidate styles himself as a renegade
As a result, the FDP is very visible in the election campaign. Posters with the portrait of the leading candidate are hanging, especially in the cities, where he is trying to aggressively reverse his defeat in 2020. “Resigned to get a run-up,” reads one poster, on which the black cowboy boots can be seen again. His favorite footwear was already at the center of the 2019 campaign.
Kemmerich almost takes great pleasure in styling himself as a renegade, a political desperado. A cinema advert in dark black and white initially shows only the outline of the candidate. A voice offstage whispers to dark western music: “The most controversial man in Berlin is a Thuringian. They say he is a right-winger and has sold his soul. They want to get rid of him by any means necessary. But nothing will come of it!” At the end, the music swells triumphantly while Kemmerich looks at the audience and says: “If you love Thuringia, vote for me.”
Kemmerich calls for exit from the traffic light coalition
“Berlin” is of course a synonym for the coalition in which the FDP is involved. The closer the election date comes, the more unashamed Kemmerich is in his campaign against his own federal government. On the Thuringian Liberals’ campaign website it says in capital letters: “Every vote for Kemmerich is one against the traffic light coalition.”
Dem star says the leading candidate: “I think it no longer makes sense to continue the traffic light coalition.” The SPD does not want to touch the excesses of social benefits, and the Greens are holding on to the superfluous basic child benefit, while at the same time the economy is crashing. This means: “The point has been reached where the FDP should do the right thing for Germany and withdraw from this coalition.”
Of course, Kemmerich knows that Lindner no longer cares about what he says. Rather, the federal party is likely to be counting on the Thuringian problem resolving itself in the election. In the polls, the state party is at 2 percent. Only a few still believe that Kemmerich will repeat the feat of 2019, when the FDP entered the state parliament with 5.0066 percent.
Kemmerich prefers to cite other surveys. They say that 80 percent of eligible voters know him and 18 percent are happy with him. “I firmly believe that we will make it back into the state parliament,” he says.
And then? Would he run for prime minister again if the worst came to the worst? “I reserve the right to run for any office that presents itself,” Kemmerich answers this question. And yes, he would accept the election again, regardless of whether the AfD votes for him. Because: “That would not be a collaboration, which is clearly out of the question for me.”
Would Kubicki still think Kemmerich is so great? This is certainly not out of the question. After all, in 2020, he initially described his friend’s election as prime minister as a “great success”.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
