Ten days after the Austrian election, the FPÖ winner still has no partners for a government majority. Now the parties should talk again – but the chances of a coalition without the nationalists increase.
Alexander Van der Bellen comes through the famous wallpaper door behind his office to provide information about what will happen after the election.
Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen completed his first talks with members of all parliamentary parties this week. It’s a “classic fairy tale,” he said in a brief statement Wednesday. It is completely new that there is an election winner in the FPÖ that none of the other parties want to rule. Van der Bellen explained that his debates showed that no one trusted their manager Herbert Kickl to form a coalition with him. “Then who should he negotiate with?”
Therefore, the President asked the chairmen of the three parties with the most votes to hold talks with each other and clarify reliably whether and how cooperation was possible. A majority requires at least two of these forces. Van der Bellen said he wanted clarity for Austria as to whether everyone involved was serious about what they said before the election and what he assured him. This requires respect for the voters.
The president does not want to waste any time
This is a new approach, the president admitted. In fact, he is departing from the tradition of entrusting the head of the party with the highest number of votes to form a government. But it is necessary so that you do not lose valuable time. Exploratory talks that have failed “from the start and the announcement” would no longer help Austria. The problems that needed to be addressed were too urgent, he said, probably referring to, among other things, the ongoing recession and the high budget deficit.
Kickl responded to the request with a Facebook post. As the leader of the clear election winner FPÖ, he will coordinate meetings with the chairmen of the second-placed ÖVP and the third-placed SPÖ. Van der Bellen brought the parties until the end of next week.
However, the initial situation has not changed since the election ten days ago – quite the opposite. The FPÖ emphasizes that it will only participate in a government with Federal Chancellor Kickl. Kickl’s predecessor at the party leadership, Norbert Hofer, said to the newspaper “Der Standard”he does not think of sacrificing this for a coalition government. Other parties could not dictate the terms. The FPÖ does not want to rule in all cases.
Kickl’s withdrawal to the second tier was the option the ÖVP left open during the election campaign for a possible new coalition with the Freedom Party. If this falls apart, a merger is unrealistic after the harsh statements made by party leader and Chancellor Karl Nehammer against Kickl. Nehammer, for his part, received a unanimous vote of confidence from the ÖVP leadership despite the biggest loss in the party’s history.
In terms of content, the differences are significant
This means that the ÖVP and SPÖ are still more likely to revive the former grand coalition. As they would only have one mandate left, the liberal party Neos is probably needed as a third partner.
From a material point of view, however, there are significant differences and therefore it will take time to form a government. It is not clear whether Van der Bellen will shorten the process with his approach and refrain from commissioning Kickl to hold formal discussions if the FPÖ really has no prospect of a majority. This is indicated in his statement that he wants to avoid “empty kilometers”. It would be a delicate maneuver, however, and would reinforce the FPÖ’s claim that it is being excluded by the “system” in a democratic way.