It was after midnight when the members of the extended district executive of the Frankfurt FDP were finally able to go to bed on the night from Monday to Tuesday.

At the end of the five-hour marathon meeting, it was at least clear who would represent the Liberals in the future magistrate: The 32-year-old city councilor Stephanie Wüst is to become the head of the economic department, she had taken care of the issue in the coalition negotiations.

Martin Benninghoff

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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    Annette Rinn is to become the head of the department for order and security.

    As the parliamentary group leader, she is considered a thematic all-rounder anyway.

    Other candidates, such as the lawyer and city councilor Uwe Schulz, had reportedly previously canceled.

    It wasn't because of personnel issues that the debate lasted so long - and got down to business.

    Rather, a motion by the young liberals and some old liberals caused unrest that has been making the rounds in the party since Monday.

    "Not ready for decision"

    In it, they call for the coalition agreement negotiated with the Greens, the SPD and Volt last week to be reopened and for some points to be renegotiated. "The Frankfurt FDP does not consider the result of the negotiations to be ready for a decision yet," it says. The applicants want to instruct the negotiating delegation to “enforce the principle of sustainability beyond the area of ​​environmental and climate protection” in a final round.

    No one was able to predict on Tuesday whether the application would have a real chance with the party members who vote on the acceptance of the coalition agreement in Saalbau Zeilsheim on Wednesday evening. "I have the feeling that a majority will accept the coalition agreement," said Annette Rinn on Tuesday. The fact that the board of directors, to which Rinn is a deputy chairwoman, defends the results of the coalition negotiations is widely described as understandable.

    But the party is also rumbling because well-known local and nationally known FDP grandees signed the application, including the MEP Nicola Beer, the former Rhineland-Palatinate state minister and head of the employment agency Florian Gerster, the former state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Hans- Joachim Otto, as well as long-time city councilors such as Elke Tafel-Stein and ex-city councilors such as Volker Stein and Franz Zimmermann. According to reports, party leader Thorsten Lieb is said to have even received the recommendation from the Hessian state executive not to sign the contract in this form. That is not confirmed.

    One day before the general meeting, nobody wanted to be quoted by name.

    But behind closed doors, the 223-page coalition agreement is described - from a liberal point of view - as a “disaster” and a “green pamphlet”.

    A long-serving FDP politician said that the March election result justified “no green march”, and that the FDP was just a “fig leaf” in this constellation.

    The liberal handwriting is missing, especially in the areas of transport, construction and finance.

    "In these conditions, it is better not to rule," said one member.

    These critics are particularly concerned about the financing of the coalition plans.

    They are calling for no more additional debt to be taken on from the 2023 budget year.

    A debt cap is not provided in the coalition agreement - and it cannot be done with the Greens and the SPD.

    A similar application by the Young Liberals was rejected at a general meeting of the FDP in April.

    Against the background of the difficult budget situation and the longstanding demand by the Liberals to reduce the full-time magistrate to nine departments, the expansion to eleven departments is also criticized as a waste of money.

    Long-running topic Mainkai

    At least some express understanding, as this allows you to differentiate yourself from the smallest partner, Volt.

    It is noticeable that even some who have not yet signed the application support aspects in the paper.

    Some share the criticism of the proposal to go to the airport's operating hours.

    The long-running issue, the closure of the Main Quay as well as any road closure, continues to cause contradictions.

    Others are more bothered by the general tone of the coalition agreement, in which a lot is said about minority politics or LGBTIQA * people, but too little about middle class and industry.

    Others are less critical because central liberal demands, such as a time-bound lowering of the trade tax multiplier and the revenue-neutral reform of the property tax, have found their way into the treaty.

    Whether a coalition agreement is renegotiated is not at the discretion of the FDP - the partners, above all the Greens, have to decide.

    Its members and those of the SPD also have their base vote on Wednesday.