Although not intended to form a government, FPÖ leader Herbert Kiegl referred to his position as leader of “the party with the largest number of votes and a clear electoral victory” in a broadcast. Therefore, he will “coordinate meetings with the leaders of the second-placed ÖVP and third-placed SPÖ,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. He cited “consideration of previous practices of previous government bodies” as a reason why he had not taken this step before.
The ÖVP said in the evening that they “take the mandate of the federal president seriously and are ready for discussions”. They want to say more about this on Thursday.
“We are certainly complying with the federal president’s directive and will hold talks with other party leaders,” the SPÖ said shortly after van der Bellen’s appearance, APA reported. Of course, he respects the federal president’s mandate and is open to negotiations with ÖVP leader Karl Nehhammer and Kigel, said SPÖ leader Andreas Popler, while ruling out a coalition with the FPÖ via X.
Avoid “empty kilometers”.
Van der Bellen announced Austria’s unusual path to finding a government later in the afternoon in an eagerly anticipated statement. As Van der Bellen explained, it was previously customary in Austria to give the mandate to form a government to the party with the most votes. However, this time, an “unusual case” occurred. It is “completely new” to have an election winner in the FPÖ, with whom none of the other parties elected to the National Council want to govern.
Van der Bellen said the idea was confirmed after discussions with party leaders. Gikl made it clear that the FPÖ would only participate in the government with him as chancellor. However, the ÖVP has so far ruled out cooperation with Kickl. Van der Bellen said that the SPÖ, Greens and NEOS fundamentally do not want to work with the FPÖ, and he asked the question: Who should the FPÖ negotiate with?
“Extraordinary Case”
According to Federal President Alexander van der Bellen, Austria is dealing with an “extraordinary case” after the National Council election, as no party wants to form a coalition with the election winner. As for the next steps in finding a coalition, the FPÖ, ÖVP and SPÖ must first ensure “clarity” in discussions.
There is no official mandate in the Constitution. Instead, parties can seek a majority among themselves, even without a government mandate, and then present them to the federal president. The President’s order has remained in force till date and is usually given to the leader of the party with the highest number of votes.
“Classic Stunt”
According to the federal leader, we are dealing with a “classic impasse”. What needs to be clarified now is: “How do we get out of this?” But because he wants to avoid “empty miles” here, van der Bellen wants to get “clarity” from the three parties with the most votes first. An order to form a government.
According to van der Bellen’s instructions, Gikl, Nehammer and Poplar must themselves “reliably clarify” what the mutual cooperation is. Only then will he consider further steps in further discussions.
Van der Bellen has given the three party leaders until the end of next week to clarify. The federal president then wants to call the party leaders back to the Hofburg to learn about the outcome of the talks. Van der Bellen wants to update the public again as soon as news is available.
Unger (ORF): “Further away”
Peter Unger (ORF) talks about, among other things, the federal president’s next steps. The path chosen by Alexander van der Bellen is new – there is still a long way to go before a new government in Austria.
There is no information about the content of the conversations
Over the past few days, van der Bellen has met with the party leaders of the FPÖ, ÖVP, SPÖ, NEOS and the Greens to hold initial discussions about a possible future coalition. At the end of a series of discussions, van der Bellen held a consultation with Green Party leader Werner Kögler and NEOS leader Pete Meinl-Reisinger on Tuesday. Nothing is known about the content of the discussions, as was the case with SPÖ party leader Andreas Popler and Chancellor Karl Nehhammer (ÖVP) on Monday and with Kickl on Friday.
For Nehammer, Popler and Kogler, the discussions were “too optimistic” to “hope,” as they told the media. Popler said they had a “very good conversation” about the “political situation in Austria”. Koegler also mentioned confidentiality on Tuesday. Meinl-Reisinger was a little more willing to provide information. Everyone now has the responsibility to ensure the future of the country, he said before his interaction with the federal president.
As he told his supporters on Sunday at the FPÖ’s election campaign launch in Styria, where state elections are held on November 24, Gicl described his meeting with van der Bellen as “a pleasant conversation, the atmosphere was very good”. Van der Bellen listened very carefully and took a lot of time. According to his own reports, Kikl “announced” that he wanted to govern with the FPÖ and himself.
