The Federal Chair of the Young Liberals, Franziska Brandmann, has criticized the behavior of the mother party FDP in the traffic light coalition and called for more creative will from her. "If Friedrich Merz criticizes the traffic light, then we stand by the side of the Free Democrats. But: The FDP must not act as a corrective in the traffic light, it must be creative power. We demand that," said Brandmann at the federal congress of the FDP youth organization in Kassel.
The "JuLis" had previously re-elected the 28-year-old political scientist as federal chair on Friday evening with 165 out of 184 valid votes. That was 90 percent agreement. There were no opposing candidates.
Brandmann asked the FDP, among other things, to submit a bill for a share pension. FDP party leader and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner announced their introduction on Saturday in Kassel for the coming year. "I want us to let the capital markets work for us, so in 2023 we will introduce stock annuity," he said. What another EU member state like Sweden can do, it must also be able to happen in Germany "at the speed of light," he told the around 800 participants at the federal congress.
In his speech, Lindner again warned against excessive Chinese influence in Germany. "I'm not sure how dependent parts of the German economy are on the Chinese market," he said. It is okay if German companies do business with China. Conversely, German investors should not be active in China in the same way.
Lindner explained that he was against advice from the state and politicians to companies where they should invest. "But one thing has to be politically clear: We can only allow Chinese investors in Germany what, conversely, German investors are allowed in China." The FDP party leader spoke out in favor of new talks with other value partners such as the USA on trade relations. "We share the same values with the USA and also have comparable goals," explained Lindner.
The 65th federal congress of young liberals in Kassel lasts until Sunday. The FDP youth organization has around 16,000 members nationwide.
