Liberal Democrats (Germany)
Liberal Democrats - the Social Liberals - ( short name: LD ) is a small left-liberal party in Germany.
Substantive Profile
The party is understood historically " as the heirs of the bourgeois revolutions and their demand for freedom, equality and fraternity " and set in the " tradition of democratic and social liberalism." You take sides among others for " human dignity through self-determination ", " protecting and expanding civil rights ," " democratization of the economy " and " reform of capitalism." In their principles they relied initially on the Freiburg Theses, which were developed in 1971 in the FDP. Among the most important results of their own work program include the papers renew Democracy (1985) and Work for All (1986). 1991 extended the LD its name by adding the Social Liberals in order to clarify their programmatic profile. In the center of the political work today are human rights, environmental protection and social justice. Market economy and property they consider as a means for " the purpose of safeguarding and at stimulating human freedom " and not as an end in itself. Furthermore, the LD calling for the abolition of the five-percent hurdle. Currently they are discussing in different contexts the subject Unconditional Basic Income. In the course of the 40th Federal Congress in March 2012 a comprehensive program package was adopted to a uniform nationwide social-liberal education policy. Since the national party on the occasion of its 30th anniversary the end of November 2012, they have publicly for the decriminalization of drugs and a more liberal society deals with addicts and have adopted a program package.
History
In 1982, the social-liberal coalition broke apart, came out of many socially liberal liberals of the FDP. Some of them were transferred to the SPD or the Greens, others founded on November 28, 1982 in Bochum, the Liberal Democrats. The party had about 1,100 members at its inception. The first chairman of the party was the former Hessian FDP member of parliament Ulrich Krüger.
In the early Bundestag elections 1983 LD were not yet in order not to weaken by a hopeless own candidacy stronger parties on the Left. In the state elections in the autumn of the same year (Bremen and Hesse ), they fell well short of their goals, each with 0.4 percent of the vote. In the European elections in 1984 they dropped after an internal ballot on a stake. As a result, Ulrich Krüger presented his office available, the new chairman was Ralf Bartz, the former chancellor of the University of Hagen, was elected. At the general election in 1987 the LD practiced again choice waiver, but called for a vote for the SPD on. At the 1989 European elections you wanted again " show the flag " and run, but could not get the required number of signatures of supporters together. When the party was to be subsequently dissolved on the recommendation of the Federal Executive, the Freiburger cultural anthropologist Gabriele Safai introduced as the new national chairman for election and so enabled the LD survival. Your first term lasted until March 4, 1995 ( Federal Party in Kassel). On November 16, 1996, she was elected chair again in Heidelberg and led the party to the federal party of 8 November 2008 in Cologne. Their office was succeeded by the previous treasurer Bernd Grothkopp. On the national party of 22 May 2011 were elected as new chairman Rainer Schlitt from Kirtorf.
The party was able to achieve only mandates at the local level; to 1999 she was represented by a deputy in the city council of Heidelberg. At times they had a member of parliament, as transgressed Hans Schwenke from the New Forum to the LD in 1992 in Berlin. This left the party very soon afterwards and joined the FDP. At the last joint candidacy a list Green / LD occurred in 1997 Dieburg. In the state elections in North Rhine -Westphalia on May 22, 2005 she stood as a candidate in the constituency Cologne VII, which she competed for the first time for a long time at a state election and were able to secure their party status for the next few years.
2004 and 2009, the party joined in at the local elections in Cologne and reached 58 or 63 votes ( 0.0%).
Ahead of the state elections in North Rhine -Westphalia of 2010, the country's list of LD failed due to an insufficient number of signatures of support, only a re- direct candidate in the constituency Cologne VII was approved. In the constituency candidates there accounted for according to the official result 95 votes ( 0.2 %). In the early parliamentary elections of May 2012, the party decided not given the short lead time on a national list; the turn is incurred as a direct candidate in Cologne- Mülheim state chairman Günter Pröhl scored 120 first preference votes ( 0.2 %).
On 24 November 2012, the LD committed under an extraordinary federal party congress in Bad Rothenfelder the 30th anniversary of its establishment and thus are currently among the most durable small parties in Germany.
National associations
Currently under construction:
Results in state elections
- Bremen 1983: 0.4 %
- Hesse 1983: 0.4 %
- Berlin 1985: 0.1%
- Berlin 1989: 0.0%
- North Rhine- Westphalia in 1985: 0.0%
- North Rhine- Westphalia 2005: 0.0%
- North Rhine- Westphalia 2010: 0.0%
- North Rhine- Westphalia 2012: 0.0%
Worth mentioning
The writer Ingeborg Drewitz supported the Liberal Democrats at times and wrote a 1986 article for the magazine liberal printed matter. The LD detected in 1993 posthumously honorary chairman William Borm this item again, as his previous connections were known to the Ministry of State Security.