Wolfgang Kubicki, the candidate for the FDP chairmanship, has announced that he plans to withdraw from politics should he lose the internal party election at the Federal Conference. Speaking to T-Online, Kubicki stated that if the party does not elect him, he will step away from public life, noting that he intends to “sit back, drink a glass of wine, and calmly observe the party’s future development”.
However, if he is successfully elected, Kubicki expressed interest in maintaining collaboration with his opponent, Henning Höne, acknowledging the latter’s strong showing in the state elections. Kubicki believes that Höne is a natural fit for continued service within the party, suggesting that if the election result favors Kubicki, he would like Höne to remain as a deputy co-chair to support both him and the FDP, emphasizing Höne’s critical role.
On the wider direction of the party, Kubicki affirmed his personal identity as a social liberal. He noted, however, a significant challenge: the disappearance of the traditional Social Democratic figures associated with leaders like Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt, Sigmar Gabriel, and Gerhard Schröder. Addressing the party’s goals, Kubicki insists that the FDP must return to a polling level of 10 percent or higher, stating that anything less would be “extremely unambitious” pointing to the successes of 2017 and 2021 as evidence that this target is achievable.
Should the party regain enough strength to participate in a federal government, Kubicki stated that such a role is conceivable. He stressed that the FDP must possess not only strong parliamentary representation but also the determination to implement its ideas. As potential coalition partners, he mentioned considering a “reformulated CDU” or an SPD that displays progressiveness and a renewed sense of national pride.
