i have been with the party for 20 years. >> patrick doring is known as a politician who is not afraidspeak his mind and is expected to be a more high-profile general secretary than his predecessor. he and party head philipp roesler are from the same part of germany and are seen as close political allies. christian lindner's resignation earlier in the day came as a surprise. he gave no details about his motives. >> there are moments when you have to make way in order to enable a new dynamic. the events of recent days and weeks to reaffirm that this belief. >> christian lindner is leaving it to others to deal with the party's crisis. >> just how well today's resignation affect the junior coalition partner, the fdp, and angela merkel's government? we put that question to melinda crane at our parliamentary studios. >> well, the big question, for starters, is will this resignation contain the crisis within the fdp or is it likely to spread further? could it even encompass the chairman of the party, philipp roesler? those are questions that will be developing in coming days. the fact is the