The general secretary of the party presents his resignation, although he claims to be unaware of the text of the ‘D-Day Document’
BERLIN, Nov. 29 (DPA/EP) –
The Liberal Party of Germany (FDP) has been involved in an internal crisis that has even caused the resignation of its general secretary, Bijan Djir-Sarai, after a strategic document of the party came to light to break the government coalition, led by the social democrats of the chancellor, Olaf Scholz; and with the support of the Greens.
The text, titled ‘D-Day Document’ and published the day before by the party itself after it had been leaked to the press, set the course to follow to overthrow Scholz’s coalition government, events that finally occurred at the beginning November and left Scholz in a position of weakness, forcing him to call elections with the polls against him.
The fall of the coalition has been the subject of debate in recent weeks, as both Social Democrats and Liberals have accused each other of precipitating the breakup. Now, senior FDP officials have clarified that the ‘D-Day Document’ was drafted behind the backs of the board, who were unaware of the content of the text.
In fact, Djir-Sarai has called the press for a brief statement in which he claimed to have “no knowledge” of the document, which has “unintentionally provided false information” to the public. The liberal secretary general has presented his resignation and has apologized for the use of ‘D-Day’, a term linked to the Second World War.
The text contained a detailed possible scenario for the departure of the Liberals from a government that still had a mandate until the end of September 2025, highlighting how an “ideal moment” for an “announced departure” from the coalition could be the week of the 4th to November 10, when the government crisis occurred precisely.
Schozl dismissed his Finance Minister and FDP president, Christian Lindner, on November 6, which caused the liberals to leave the coalition and accelerated the process of early elections, now scheduled for February 23. Now, the latest events vindicate the chancellor’s position, as the German authorities have recognized.
According to deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner, he stressed that the FDP text makes it clear that Scholz made the right decision in dismissing then-minister Lindner. “The chancellor feels confirmed in his decision by current publications, and thinks he made the right decision in this context,” the spokesperson said.