In the ongoing power struggle within the FDP (Free Democratic Party) for the leadership position, Wolfgang Kubicki is garnering increased support following the withdrawal of re-candidacy by former party leader Christian Dürr, who instead threw his weight behind the 74-year-old.
Marko Miholic, the deputy leader for Bremen, stated that he was supporting Kubicki’s candidacy as the newest member of the federal board. Miholic praised Kubicki, noting that he is a “free man who radiates an authentic spirit of freedom even in his advanced years”. While Miholic admitted Kubicki might not represent the party’s ultimate long-term future, he asserted that he is currently “the best option” to guide the party forward.
Echoing this sentiment, Muhanad Al-Halak, another board observer, described Kubicki as a valued friend and colleague from when Al-Halak served as an MP. He believes that Kubicki possesses the right personality to provide clear direction and actively manage the necessary revival of the party in its current state.
Support also comes from the Saarland, where Angelika Hießerich-Peter stated that the FDP needs a leader at the helm with a distinct profile, one who possesses the courage to address controversial issues sharply and withstand backlash. As the federal chairwoman of the Liberal Middle Class, she added that Kubicki is the person who meets this requirement, particularly regarding the need to place economic common sense and freedom (as envisioned by SMEs and the middle class) back at the forefront of political debate. Furthermore, reports indicate that two other board members, Katja Hessel and Karl-Heinz Paqué, have clearly sided with Kubicki.
Conversely, several other board members-including Christopher Vogt (State Chair in Schleswig-Holstein), Steven Wink (currently a fraktionsvorsitzender in Rhineland-Palatinate), Finn Ole Ritter (State Chair in Hamburg), Helmer Krane (Task Force member), Thorsten Lieb (Head of the Hesse FDP), and Hans-Ulrich Rülke (former FDP chief in Baden-Württemberg)-remained hesitant or undeclared.
In separate organizational matters, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann publicly threw her support behind Henning Höne, who is also campaigning to be party leader at the FDP federal conference in late May. Otherwise, no other board member was seen positioning themselves for Höne on requests from the dts agency.
Meanwhile, Konstantin Kuhle, a former MP now working as a lawyer but retaining a formal observer role on the federal board, reacted to a critique of Kubicki on LinkedIn-a post suggesting Kubicki might position the party too “sharply right-populist” likening it to the AfD without actual Nazi slogans, but emphasizing the FDP’s “legacy claims” which was deemed nonsense by the original poster. Kuhle reacted positively to this comment. This interaction was noticed by management consultant Ulf Poschardt, who remarked on the board’s current sentiment, contrasting Kuhle’s observation with the view that Kubicki represents “the last chance for the FDP’s rebirth”.
