Traffic light off
“Total failure”: Politicians are outraged by the FDP’s “D-Day” paper
The ideal time, the ideal path, the ideal image – this is how the FDP structures the exit from the traffic lights in the “D-Day” paper. The reactions of the former coalition partners are clear.
A v puts the party in need of explanation. It is titled: “D-Day Process Scenarios and Measures”. It was created before the traffic lights went out, but it is supposed to prepare for exactly that. Did the Liberals specifically prepare for the break in the coalition?
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and “Zeit” had published research on the paper in advance, and the news portal “Table.Briefings” reported on the present presentation on Thursday. In mid-November, FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai denied having used the term “D-Day”. But the term is central to the presentation that was published on the party’s homepage on Thursday evening.
Background: On the so-called “D-Day”, June 6, 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy to liberate Europe from National Socialism. This is also why the term in the FDP paper has been widely criticized in recent weeks.
Now the readings differ significantly.
How does the SPD deal with the D-Day paper?
One of the first to speak out in the Chancellor’s Party was SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch. He demanded an apology from FDP leader Lindner and told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND): “Such irresponsible actions destroy citizens’ trust in democratic institutions.” The term “D-Day” and other war rhetoric are cynical.
Party leader Lars Klingbeil said on X, formerly Twitter, that it was good that “everything is slowly coming out and citizens can form their own opinion.”
The FDP is organizing a “field battle” against a government that you are a member of. It’s good that everything is slowly coming out and citizens can get an idea. https://t.co/LtMAE7vSNl
— Lars Klingbeil 🇪🇺 (@larsklingbeil) November 28, 2024
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Bundestag member Ralf Stegner was more aggressive, also via
New research into the FDP’s “D-Day” maneuver for the party-politically motivated intentional coalition break shows a low point in political unculture.
In a phase of international crises + war + major challenges for the country, the FDP is a total failure.— Ralf Stegner MdB (@Ralf_Stegner) November 28, 2024
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What do the Greens say?
The Greens also react to the published paper. At
Can you just shake your head at this martial talk about pitched battles and D-Day? #FDP. Who wants to hear that, such stupid behavior?
— Britta Haßelmann (@BriHasselmann) November 28, 2024
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Former Green Party leader Ricarda Lang was annoyed by the war rhetoric and said anyone who wanted to cause destruction for their own benefit should not bear political responsibility.
Anyone who only sees politics as a battlefield and whose only remaining goal is destruction for their own benefit should not bear any political responsibility. pic.twitter.com/dNkyEGEqrk
— Ricarda Lang (@Ricarda_Lang) November 28, 2024
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Lang also showed humor and the so-called “D-Day pyramid”: “How I plan to convince my husband to get a dog.”
And how does the FDP justify itself?
The party in question was apparently caught in a lie. Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai has so far denied this. The paper was created at the employee level, he told the newspaper “Welt”: “No one from the leadership of the FDP knew the paper.” He doesn’t see any reason to resign.
Why did the party end up publishing the paper itself? For “reasons of transparency,” the FDP said on social networks on Thursday. “If the entire German media landscape was already speculating about the end of the traffic lights at this point, then it is only professional to prepare for this option,” Djir-Sarai continued. However, this does not explain why the disseminated paper, for example, talks about an “announced exit” with a specific date around the US election at the beginning of November.
Wolfgang Kubicki, himself not a big fan of the traffic lights, said the outrage was silly: “I have always openly communicated that the coalition has no right to exist if it does not find the strength to solve the pressing problems.”
Bundestag member Max Mordhorst praised his party. He was positively impressed, he said at
To be honest, I am positively impressed by my party with how professionally the engine room has prepared for possible ends to the most unpopular federal government of all time. You can find words inappropriate, but you should act so cleverly in this matter much more often.
— Max Mordhorst (@maxmordhorst) November 28, 2024
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Only board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann was self-critical. She was not present at the meeting to allegedly prepare for the traffic light breach. Preparing for a possible exit is the right thing to do, but the “writing with this tonality is incomprehensible”: “Now all that is required is self-criticism and coming to terms with it.”
I was not present at this meeting. However, it was logical that one should deal with exit scenarios in a situation like the one we had in the government, and not just for the FDP. The choice of words does not serve the purpose, a written version with…
— Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (@MAStrackZi) November 28, 2024
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The break in the traffic light coalition was initiated by an 18-page economic paper from the FDP. Shortly afterwards, Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed his Finance Minister Christian Lindner and the other FDP ministers except for Volker Wissing. What followed was the battle for the sovereignty of interpretation.
Sources: X, with information from the DPA news agency
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.
