 Gerhardt, 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 the FDP, 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.