Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei |
|
---|---|
Abbreviation | FDP |
Chairman | Christian Lindner |
General Secretary | Nicola Beer |
Vice chairman |
Wolfgang Kubicki Katja Suding Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann |
Federal manager | Marco Buschmann |
Federal treasurer | Hermann Otto Solms |
Founded | 12 December 1948 |
Headquarters | Thomas-Dehler-Haus Reinhardtstraße 14 10117 Berlin |
Youth wing | Young Liberals |
Foundation | Friedrich Naumann Foundation |
Membership (2017) | 56,000 |
Ideology |
Liberalism Classical liberalism Economic liberalism Pro-Europeanism |
Political position | Centre to Centre-right |
European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
International affiliation | Liberal International |
European Parliament group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
Colors | Cyan, Yellow |
Bundestag |
0 / 630
|
Bundesrat |
14 / 69
|
State Parliaments |
103 / 1,821
|
European Parliament |
3 / 96
|
Website | |
www |
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The Free Democratic Party (German: Freie Demokratische Partei, FDP) is a liberal and classical liberalpolitical party in Germany. The FDP is led by Christian Lindner.
The FDP was founded in 1948 by members of the former liberal political parties existing in Germany before World War II, the German Democratic Party and the German People's Party. For most of the Federal Republic's history, it has held the balance of power in the Bundestag. It was a junior coalition partner to either the CDU/CSU (1949–56, 1961–66, 1982–98, and 2009–13) or the Social Democratic Party of Germany (1969–82).
However, in the 2013 federal election the FDP failed to win any directly elected seats in the Bundestag, and came up short of the 5 percent threshold to qualify for list representation. The FDP was therefore left without representation in the Bundestag for the first time in its history. Currently the FDP is represented in nine state parliaments and in the European Parliament.
The FDP strongly supports human rights, civil liberties, and internationalism. The party is traditionally considered centre-right, but it has shifted to the centre according to polls in recent years. Since the 1980s, the party has firmly pushed economic liberalism, and has aligned itself closely to the promotion of free markets and privatisation. It is a member of the Liberal International and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).