Liberal leader who sparked German govt’s downfall resigns

After the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) in Germany fell short of the five percent barrier needed to enter parliament, Christian Lindner, the party’s leader, resigned on Sunday.

The 46-year-old Lindner was frequently at differences with the Social Democrat chancellor while serving as finance minister in Olaf Scholz’s convoluted three-way coalition administration.

After a sour disagreement over government expenditure, Scholz sacked him in November, bringing the situation to a head.

The early general election on Sunday was made possible by the resignation of all but one of Lindner’s FDP party colleagues from the government.

Early results showed the FDP heading for a disastrous result of around 4.4 percent — seven percent down on the last election in 2021.

With the party’s fate seemingly sealed, Lindner announced in a post on social media platform X that he would “retire from active politics”.

“I have only one feeling: gratitude for 25 intense, challenging years full of productive work and debate.”

After leading the party back from the wilderness and into government, Lindner’s tumultuous political career comes to an end with Sunday’s electoral failure.

After the party collapsed out of the Bundestag in 2014, Lindner took over as leader. In 2017, the FDP regained seats in parliament and doubled its vote share under his leadership.

Following the election, the liberal leader abruptly ended negotiations with the Greens and the conservatives of former chancellor Angela Merkel, displaying his early penchant for the spectacular.

“Better not to govern than to govern badly,” he declared to waiting press.

Lindner got a second chance after the 2021 elections, securing his long-coveted role as finance minister in Scholz’s government.

In the end, he was unable to reconcile his ideological differences with the Greens and Social Democrats, his coalition partners.

When Germany’s constitutionally mandated debt brake was reinstated following the coronavirus outbreak, Lindner, a staunch fiscal hawk, reacted angrily to Scholz’s plans to remove it, which ultimately resulted in his resignation.