Saxony's FDP is heading into the Bundestag elections with Torsten Herbst as its top candidate. The 51-year-old has been a member of parliament in Berlin since 2017 and is currently one of the parliamentary leaders of his parliamentary group. In Chemnitz, almost 81.6% of party representatives voted for him and there was no opposing candidate.
In his speech, Herbst defended the break-up of the traffic light coalition with the SPD and Greens in the federal government. In his view, the end of the traffic light coalition was unavoidable, right and "a salvation for our country". Herbst said that he wanted to campaign for a new start in economic policy during the election campaign. It was about less state, less tax burden and more freedom.
A new Bundestag will most likely be elected in February. In the 2021 vote, the FDP achieved 11.0 percent in Saxony. However, it performed far worse in this year's elections. In the state elections in September, it only received 0.9 percent, fewer votes than the Party for Animal Protection or the far-right splinter party Free Saxony. It had previously received 2.4 percent in the European elections.
