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German foreign minister quits as liberal party leader
Source: Xinhua |
April 4, 2011, Monday
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GERMAN Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle announced yesterday that he would resign next month as leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) amid mounting pressure over his party's disastrous defeats in recent regional elections.
"After 10 years as party leader, I will not stand for the post at next party congress in May," Westerwelle said in a briefing.
"It is an unusual day for me, but I am sure that it is the right decision to start with a change of new generations in the FDP,"he said.
Westerwelle said he has made the decision earlier yesterday after returning from a visit to China and Japan, adding that he would keep his position in federal government as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister.
"I will continue to work with all my strength for the success of the liberals, for the success of the FDP," he told reporters.
Westerwelle's decision ended days of speculation over his political future, after his Free Democrats, also the junior party in Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition, suffered a series of disastrous defeats in recent regional elections.
In last week's election in Baden-Wurttemberg State, the pro-business FDP barely remain in parliament with 5.3 percent of votes, losing nearly half of supporters compared with last time.
Meanwhile, the FDP was blocked out of the local parliaments in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, as the party didn't break through the minimum 5-percent threshold in the election.
Recent polls showed that the FDP's support has plummeted to around 5 percent from its record 14.6 percent after the federal election in 2009, when the FDP and Merkel's Christian Democrats ( CDU) formed a coalition government.
The 49-year-old Westerwelle was widely blamed for these failures, as mounting pressure and sharp criticism pushed him into a corner in recent weeks. Polls showed that Westerwelle was also viewed as "the most unpopular politicians in post-war Germany."
The outgoing FDP leader did not name his likely successor in the briefing. But some German media said that Health Minister Philipp Roesler, 38, and FDP General Secretary Christian Lindner, 32, were the most likely man to replace the embattled Westerwelle.
"After 10 years as party leader, I will not stand for the post at next party congress in May," Westerwelle said in a briefing.
"It is an unusual day for me, but I am sure that it is the right decision to start with a change of new generations in the FDP,"he said.
Westerwelle said he has made the decision earlier yesterday after returning from a visit to China and Japan, adding that he would keep his position in federal government as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister.
"I will continue to work with all my strength for the success of the liberals, for the success of the FDP," he told reporters.
Westerwelle's decision ended days of speculation over his political future, after his Free Democrats, also the junior party in Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition, suffered a series of disastrous defeats in recent regional elections.
In last week's election in Baden-Wurttemberg State, the pro-business FDP barely remain in parliament with 5.3 percent of votes, losing nearly half of supporters compared with last time.
Meanwhile, the FDP was blocked out of the local parliaments in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, as the party didn't break through the minimum 5-percent threshold in the election.
Recent polls showed that the FDP's support has plummeted to around 5 percent from its record 14.6 percent after the federal election in 2009, when the FDP and Merkel's Christian Democrats ( CDU) formed a coalition government.
The 49-year-old Westerwelle was widely blamed for these failures, as mounting pressure and sharp criticism pushed him into a corner in recent weeks. Polls showed that Westerwelle was also viewed as "the most unpopular politicians in post-war Germany."
The outgoing FDP leader did not name his likely successor in the briefing. But some German media said that Health Minister Philipp Roesler, 38, and FDP General Secretary Christian Lindner, 32, were the most likely man to replace the embattled Westerwelle.
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