Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) political party reportedly has urged the state of Lower Saxony to sell its stake in Volkswagen, citing the risk of conflicts of interest weakening the region's oversight of the scandal hit automaker.
According to Reuters, Lower Saxony, which owns 20% of Volkswagen's voting rights, holds an election on 15 October in which chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are forecast to win and to most likely form a coalition government with the FDP.
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"The state should completely privatise VW," FDP leader Christian Lindner told Handelsblatt newspaper. "This is our liberal conviction."
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) have criticised their Social Democrat (SPD) rivals who govern Lower Saxony for not being tough enough on VW, Reuters noted.
However, the SPD are unlikely to heed FDP's call to sell the state's stake in the carmaker, which provides more than 100,000 jobs to its economy.
Lindner has also urged the federal government to sell its 31.9% stake in Deutsche Telekom and 21% share in Deutsche Post, the report added.
The FDP has long opposed state ownership of listed companies but the SPD and CDU have always rejected its calls for privatisation, Reuters said.
