May 14th 2021, Germany’s opposition Free Democratic Party (LDP) began a three-day online party congress. In a speech, party chairman Lindner called on the federal government to adjust the “emergency brake” system and show solidarity with Israel.
Lindner criticized the German government’s anti-pandemic policy that day, saying the restrictions threaten civil rights and freedoms.
In his view, it was “arbitrary and inappropriate” to impose an “emergency brake” on areas with a seven-day infection rate of more than 100, including a total curfew. Lindner asked the federal government to amend the matter, rather than wait for the federal Constitutional Court’s decision.
Earlier, the LDP has filed a lawsuit with Germany’s Constitutional Court over a new law on the prevention and control of infectious diseases aimed at unifying the country’s pandemic prevention measures.
Lindner stressed that the LDP has never underestimated the health risks of coronavirus outbreak, but at the same time has not ignored its significant impact on society.
He explicitly opposed the government’s tax increases to get out of the crisis, arguing that normal income would be enough to help Germany gradually strengthen its economic independence and recover.
It is worth mentioning that at the current party congress, 662 LDP representatives will discuss and consider the party’s electoral plan for the September Bundestag elections, and re-elect the Bureau and the Federal Executive Committee.
Analysts generally agree that, without incident, lindner, the party’s chairman, will be re-elected.
With less than four months to go until the German election, the LDP’s support in recent polls is roughly between 11 and 12 per cent. In the last Bundestag election in 2017, the party’s approval rating was 10.7 per cent.
