Tag Archives: fdp

Gareth Epps

Opinion: Nicht Schadenfreude, sondern Selbstverteidigung*

By Gareth Epps | Tue 24th September 2013 - 2:08 pm

germany-flagThe exit of the Free Democrats from the German Parliament for the first time since World War II is not just an unforeseen consequence of the spectacular success of Angela Merkel.  It is a significant setback for European Liberalism, even if our German counterparts have for a generation been outriders on the right of the Liberal spectrum.

Some detailed polling shows the significant movement of votes from the FDP to the Christian Democrats .  One significant difference to note here is that the UK Conservatives are notably more right-wing on the economy and environment than their German counterparts in particular, but broadly more liberal on social issues; this has arguably helped shunt the FDP into a cul-de-sac where they are seen as uncomfortably close to some business interests.  The trouble for them, though, is threefold: they:

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 11 Comments
Chris Richards

Opinion: One further lesson from the FDP

By Chris Richards | Tue 24th September 2013 - 8:42 am

germany-flag

A lot of people have focussed on the FDP’s failure to surpass the 5% hurdle to gain representation in the German Bundestag, following elections this weekend. While a quirk, there is another way the FDP could have maintained representation in the German Parliament.

This is the first time since 1949, when the new German constitution came into force that the FDP have not held seats in the German Bundestag. Since 1949, the party has only been out of office in five sessions out of 17, the least of any other party – effectively anchoring German politics to their version of the ‘centre ground’.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

5 reasons not to assume the FDP wipeout in the German elections will happen here in the UK

By Stephen Tall | Mon 23rd September 2013 - 9:10 am

fdp germany logoAn amazing result for Angela Merkel, increasing her vote and almost winning an absolute majority for the conservative CDU in her third election. A dire one for the liberal FDP, eliminated from the German Bundestag after failing to cross the 5% popular vote threshold – from 93 seats to 0 in one go. Ouch.

Part of the fun of elections in foreign countries is cherry-picking the bits of confirmation bias that suit our own weltenschaung. “Liberal party wiped out after coalition with centre-right party, eh – you just wait til …

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged , , , , and | 58 Comments

Tunisian Liberals excluded from country’s new political process

By Liberal International British Group | Fri 21st January 2011 - 11:08 am

The confused situation in Tunisia has seen a provisional government formed from which the country’s liberals, the Social Liberal Party, has been excluded. Only representatives of socialist groups and the former ruling party have been given places in the new government,

The Social Liberal Party is a member of Liberal International, which has protested at its exclusion and pointed out that a functioning democracy cannot be formed while all but one part of the political spectrum is omitted from the process. The party’s website is in Arabic only.

Liberal International’s responses can be seen here.

Ronald Meinardus, director of …

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

Daily View 2×2: 28 September 2009

By Stephen Tall | Mon 28th September 2009 - 9:45 am

2 Big Stories


Germany elects new centre-right government to be led by Angela Merkel

The Financial Times reports:

Germany is on course for its first centre-right government in 11 years after voters gave chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and her Free Democratic allies a majority in parliament.

The victory of the conservative-liberal alliance – which had campaigned for tax cuts and a return to nuclear energy, but also social justice and tougher rules for finance – in Sunday’s poll ends four years of awkward co-operation between the CDU and its rival Social Democratic party in a grand coalition. …

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 3 Comments
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