Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – After their debacle in the North Rhine-Westphalian state elections, the FDP wants to reorganize its state executive board at an early party conference in January. This was announced by country chief Joachim Stamp in an email to the party members, which is available to the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf.
The 51-year-old former deputy head of government and state family minister has not yet declared whether he himself will run again as chairman of the NRW-FDP or whether he will no longer be available. Stamp has been state chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia FDP since 2017 and was the top candidate for the state elections in which his party halved its result to 5.9 percent (2017: 12.6). This means that the black-yellow coalition cannot continue to govern. The CDU is now negotiating a coalition with the Greens.
The reasons for the “severe defeat” are complex, Stamp wrote in his email to the party base. “We put everything to the test.” It is about the content as well as the professionalization of party work, internal and external communication and the selection process for offices and lists.
“The conclusion of this process should be the next regular state party conference, at which we will also reorganize the team of the FDP NRW in early 2023,” said Stamp of the dpa. All reform steps would be worked out in concrete terms in the coming weeks.
Actually, the next regular party congress was only announced for April 2023. Last week, the Young Liberals had already called for the resignation of Stamps and the entire board.