Page "Guido Westerwelle" Paragraph 5

In 2001, he succeeded Wolfgang Gerhardt as party chairman, who, however, remained chairman of the FDP's parliamentary group.

Westerwelle, the youngest party chairman at the time, emphasized economics and education, and espoused a strategy initiated by his deputy Jürgen Möllemann, who, as chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of party, had led his party back into the state parliament, gaining 9. 8 % of the vote.

This strategy, transferred to the federal level, was dubbed Project 18, referring both to the envisioned percentage and the German age of majority.

Leading up to the 2002 elections, he positioned his party in equidistance to the major parties and refused to commit his party to a coalition with either the Christian Democrats or the Social Democrats.

He was also declared the FDP's candidate for the office of chancellor.

Since the FDP had never claimed such a candidacy ( and hasn't done since ) and had no chance of attaining it against the two major parties, this move was widely seen as flippant political marketing alongside other moves, such as driving around in a campaign van dubbed the Guidomobile, wearing the figure 18 on the soles of his shoes or appearance in the Big Brother TV show.

Eventually, the federal elections yielded a slight increase of the FDP's vote from 6. 8 % to 7. 4 %.

Despite this setback, he was reelected as party chairman in 2003.