Kubicki's ultimatum: FDP leadership or political exit looms ahead
Berlin. Wolfgang Kubicki, the candidate for the leadership of Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP), has announced he will withdraw from politics if he loses the upcoming party conference vote. "If the party does not elect me, I will accept that," Kubicki told the news portal T-Online. "In that case, I'll actually step back from politics, enjoy my glass of wine, and watch the party's progress from a distance."
Should he win, however, he expressed hope that his rival, Henning Höne, would take on a key role within the party. "I believe Henning Höne, with his strong showing in the state elections behind him, has a firm place in the party for further responsibilities," Kubicki said. "I would like to see him—if he should lose the vote, to put it politely—remain as deputy federal chairman, because he fulfills an important function for me and for the party."
On the party's potential direction and his own political stance, Kubicki stated: "I remain a social liberal. The problem is that the Social Democrats I once identified with—the likes of Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt, Sigmar Gabriel, and even Gerhard Schröder—no longer exist." He remains committed to steering the FDP back to approval ratings of 10 percent or higher. "Anything less than ten percent would be extremely unambitious," Kubicki said. "We proved in 2017 and 2021 that this is achievable."
If the FDP regains seats in the Bundestag, he would also consider joining a governing coalition. "A party like the FDP must aspire not only to a strong parliamentary presence but also to implementing the ideas we stand for," he explained. Potential partners, in his view, could include a "reformed" Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) or a Social Democratic Party (SPD) that embraces progress and "takes pride in the country once more."
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