FDP chief Christian Lindner has said that he will leave active politics
Christian Lindner, leader of the FDP party, in Berlin on February 23, 2025. © Hannes P. Albert / picture alliance / Getty Images
Christian Lindner, the leader of Germany’s pro-business Free Democratic Party, has announced that he is retiring from politics following a disastrous defeat in the elections in the Bundestag.
“The federal election brought a defeat for the FDP, but hopefully a new beginning for Germany. That was what I had fought for,” Lindner wrote on social media.
“Now I am retiring from active politics,” he added.
As of 00:35 am local time on Monday, projections reported by the German media suggest that Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) has received 28.5% of the votes, while the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is projected to receive 20.7%. FDP is projected to receive just 4.4%.
Lindner served as finance minister in the so-called traffic light ruling coalition between FDP, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, and the Greens.
The coalition collapsed last year after Lindner pulled his support from the government due to a dispute over the budget.
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