According to Wolfgang Kubicki, the designated leader of the FDP, he has no issue talking with representatives of the AfD. “Yes, I also speak with AfD representatives” Kubicki stated in an interview with the ARD-Hauptstadtstudio. He emphasizes that his approach favors exclusion over complete ostracization.
While still participating in discussions in Berlin as a former Vice President of the Bundestag during parliamentary session weeks, Kubicki notes that the sentiment across the city is poor. “Because everyone sees the strengthening of the AfD with wide-eyed concern and no longer knows what to do about it. Evidently, the form of excluding the AfD hasn’t harmed it, but has perhaps helped it instead”.
Kubicki, who aims to be elected as the party’s new leader at the upcoming party conference-a goal for which he has already sidelined all conceivable rivals-does not view himself as the definitive future of the party. He cites figures like Linda Teuteberg, Martin Hagen, Susanne Seehofer, Nicole Büttner, or Jens Teutrine as potential leaders. He also stressed that he periodically monitors their public presence: “I also carry out checks. I look at how often you have appeared somewhere, how often you have been invited by associations or organizations”.
Kubicki believes the FDP must regain public visibility. “We became accustomed to delighting people with incredible political jargon, and they now find that disgusting”. He also promised the Chancellor personally that he will stop making personal insults, such as calling the Chancellor “having an egg-dick” which he did in a previous interview.
Despite these commitments, he remains firm on certain issues. “I wonder about the way Friedrich Merz behaves as Federal Chancellor” Kubicki stated. “I wonder about the politics, and I now also wonder about the Union, because I could never have imagined that one celebrates their own people within the Union when they have 22 percent or are half as strong as the AfD, or if the AfD has a greater competence assignment than the Union. So, I wonder why discontent doesn’t arise more, why the idea doesn’t become prevalent that we need to change to become stronger”.
Kubicki is convinced that the Chancellor should exercise his constitutional authority much more forcefully and declare, “We are doing it this way”. He argues that this would give the Social Democrats two options: they either participate or they withdraw from the government. If they withdraw, they would lose their ministerial positions and the last chance to communicate publicly. An SPD at 12 percent, he argues, cannot engage in a successful campaign.
When asked whether he would still be involved in three years, Kubicki declined to commit. “But the probability that I will lead the FDP into the 2029 federal election campaign is significantly lower than the probability that I will be in Mallorca”.
