FDP facing the end in the East? Ex-FDP leader criticizes federal party

Even young people are turning away from the FDP

According to Zastrow, even young people have turned away from the FDP again. Together with the existential crisis that has gripped all established parties, it is becoming very difficult. "When I took over the FDP in Saxony in 1999, we still had around 600 municipal mandates, around 80 mayors and were rooted everywhere in society. The FDP on the ground was relatively resilient to everything that happened in Berlin or in the country. That was the basis, the heart of the reconstruction. But this heart no longer beats in this country."

"This is the result of a long process that began for me back in 2013. It has to do with changes after leaving the Bundestag. Since then, I believe the party has lost its way and has changed in a direction that is now proving to be a problem after initial successes," emphasized Zastrow. This is largely due to Christian Lindner's course, he said. "This transformation is now bearing fruit, rotten fruit. That is why the cause of the poor performance in Saxony and Thuringia is primarily to be found in the federal party. But there are also shortcomings in the country itself."