We won’t reject discussions about a possible black-yellow-green coalition if that’s what the Union wants, but we won’t be the guarantors of a policy in which the Union and the FDP did not get the majority. I can’t think of myself as minister, with Merkel as chancellor for she will promote nuclear technology as well as genetic modification, the abolition of social achievements and the development of a risky foreign policy.
We’re not in favour of tax abatement but of the simplification of the tax system. If the state takes its job seriously, we can’t allow such reduction. I don’t want a weak state incapable of helping its citizens after a natural disaster, as it happened in the United States.
We must pay attention to the programmes and the people we have nowadays, that is, Merkel and Westerwelle. What’s guaranteed is that the red-green chapter is completely closed in the federal circle. We lost the majority, we must go back to the beginning, to the role of the opposition. It’s very important to give clear answers about the trend towards the individualization of society and the need of social structures for people. The Union lost because these issues were not properly considered.
The new black majorities were already sanctioned in Schleswig-Holstein and in Northern Rhineland-Westfalia due to their selective policies and social rigor. That’s why we suggest solutions for the next municipal and parliamentarian elections of the States.

Source
Die Tageszeitung (Germany)

Keine Minister unter Merkel", by Bärbel Höhn, Die Tageszeitung, September 20, 2005. Text adapted from an interview.