Wolfgang Kubicki, the likely future leader of the FDP, has clearly distanced his party from the AfD. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post” (Tuesday edition), Kubicki stated that he would neither elect nor support a government that included the AfD. However, he rejected the idea of a “firewall” debate, asserting that this was not the FDP’s concern and that the CDU/CSU Union could address that issue. When asked whether cooperation with the AfD, as suggested by former Schleswig-Holstein Minister-President Torsten Albig (SPD), would be permissible for the FDP, Kubicki shot back that he had no obligation to advise the SPD on how to handle the AfD. Furthermore, he insisted that the FDP would not elect a left-wing or an AfD-led government, nor would the party place itself in any form of political dependence on either entity. Nevertheless, a key focus for the FDP will be winning back voters previously lost to the AfD. Kubicki noted, “In the federal election, 1.2 million voters left us for the Union, and 800,000 voters went towards the AfD. Of course, it is intuitive that people who have decided for the FDP previously will decide for us again”. He emphasized that he does not consider voters to be “first or second class”.
Politics
