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Politics

Christian Lindner reelected as FDP head

April 27, 2019

Lindner helped the FDP return to Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in the 2017 elections. But he turned down an opportunity to form a coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel after the vote.

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Christian Lindner, FDP
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Pedersen

Christian Lindner was reelected as head of Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) at a delegates' convention in Berlin on Friday.

Lindner won 86.64% of the delegates' votes, down from the 91% that he received when he was first elected as the party leader in 2013.

After the 2017 federal elections, Lindner, whose FDP is an opposition party in parliament, rejected the offer to form a coalition government with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Greens.

Read more: Germany's FDP vows support for Angela Merkel-led minority government

The FDP failed to enter the Bundestag in 2013 after falling below the 5% threshold. However, Linder helped the party's return to the Bundestag in 2017, winning 10.7% of the vote.

The FDP also elected Linda Teuteberg, a Brandenburg lawmaker, as its new general secretary. She replaced Nicola Beer, who became the party's top candidate for the EU parliamentary election. Beer was chosen by FDP delegates as the deputy party leader.

shs/rc (Dpa, AFP)

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