The Hessian FDP has successfully performed an open heart operation.

In view of his prominent position, faction leader René Rock would have been allowed to lead his party in the upcoming state elections in autumn.

But the fifty-five-year-old had to leave the role of top candidate to MP Stefan Naas.

He is running with the aim of becoming Economics Minister.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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The fact that the power struggle behind the scenes apparently took place without major upheavals and relatively quickly was mainly due to the strong home power that Naas was able to rely on.

The Rhein-Main district he leads is by far the strongest division of the state association and thus sets the tone at party conferences.

In addition, Rock belongs to the majority of people whose ambition is less pronounced than Naas is.

After all, the forty-nine-year-old represents one of his party's flagship disciplines as economic policy spokesman for the parliamentary group, while Rock's early childhood education is a matter close to his heart.

Before the state elections in October 2018, Rock had shown that traditions did not impress him too much by stating that the CDU was no longer the “natural partner” of the Christian Democrats.

Significant differences between Greens and Liberals

But he had also announced that his group was unwilling to back a government coalition led by Green Party figurehead Economy Minister Tarek Al-Wazir.

It would have been mathematically possible, but failed because the FDP kept its word.

If Naas does not rule out a coalition with the Greens after the upcoming state elections in autumn 2023, this is due to the general principle that democratic parties must be able to talk to each other.

However, Naas has in no way corrected his political course, which could be understood as preparing for a traffic light government.

The fact that the differences between the Greens and the FDP are significant and not just in terms of content is evident in almost every debate in the state parliament.

For example, when the FDP criticized the policies of Economics Minister Al-Wazir during the pandemic, he mocked the fact that the Liberals had been working on him in vain for years, but only got bad press and mediocre election results.

Finally, the politician of the Greens denied the Liberals “bourgeois citizenship”.

It consists in “that you don't have to think about it for long, but rather have a certain basic sense of what you're doing and what it's better not to do,” says Al-Wazir.

"Think about it."

It didn't do the liberals credit that none of them showed themselves able to parry the Greens' lecture on the question of bourgeois citizenship.

In the meantime, however, Naas in particular has obviously found a taste for the dispute with the Minister for Economic Affairs.

The qualified lawyer can also draw on the knowledge he acquired during his training at Deutsche Bank.

However, he is also happy to point out the experience he gained as mayor of his home town of Steinbach.

As cultural policy spokesman for his parliamentary group, Naas also dealt with Al-Wazir's party colleague, Minister of the Arts Angela Dorn, last year.

He was one of the politicians who had warned them in vain about anti-Semitism before he was able to break free at the Documenta in Kassel.

Despite the conflicts, the Greens attach great importance to staying in touch with the FDP.

Representatives of both factions met shortly before the start of the Hessenfest in Berlin for a confidential meeting, which, however, did not noticeably improve bilateral relations.

Only a few reservations about the CDU and SPD

The majority of the FDP parliamentary group would be extremely skeptical about joining a traffic light coalition led by the eco-party in Wiesbaden, if it were mathematically possible.

This also applies to Rock, who should keep his post at the head of the parliamentary group after the state elections.

And that also applies to the party that is asked before forming coalitions.

There will be no distancing from the CDU this year, with which Rock irritated the then Prime Minister Volker Bouffier before the 2018 state elections.

The FDP would not hesitate to enter a government led by incumbent Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) if the opportunity arose.

But there doesn't seem to be any great reservations about the Social Democrats either.

The fact that the Liberals cannot go into the election campaign cheerfully is due to the appearance of their party friends at the national level.

The Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion recorded a drop in the share of votes from 13 to 7.5 percent in the Sunday question last year.

These values ​​​​must alarm the Hessian FDP.

Because federal policy has a major influence on the climate in the country.