Herbert Kickl was in demand in Hartberg on Sunday. An hour before the official start of the Styrian state elections, many visitors flocked to the Oktoberfest grounds to see the winner of the National Council election, “their” Herbert.
On stage, he appeared relaxed and more moderate than in previous weeks; he emphasized that the “walls in the black and red party headquarters” would shake in the face of the “strong” liberal party.
- A editorial You can read about the topic here.
“The blue wave of freedom and success rolls and rolls and rolls,” he said, referring to the upcoming state elections. Vorarlberg will kick off on Sunday, followed by Styria on November 24th and Burgenland at the beginning of 2025. He can already see how “State Governor Mario Kunasek and State Governor Norbert Hofer” will greet each other, Kickl senses the chance to conquer the state governor’s chair in Styria and Burgenland. The incumbents Christopher Drexler (VP, Styria) and Hans Peter Doskozil (SP, Burgenland) want to prevent this.
Kunasek – FP state party leader and former defense minister – still has to ride the blue wave in cold winds for a few weeks. But in the end he would be the winner, Kickl prepared the stage for his party friend. He criticized that many things were going “in the completely wrong direction” and drummed up well-known liberal positions in his speech – including “social benefits only for Austrians”. Among those applauding him in the audience was the newly elected liberal top candidate for the Burgenland election, Norbert Hofer.
No questions at the press conference
Federal party chairman Herbert Kickl had previously warned of a “coalition of losers” at the federal level, which wanted to maintain its power at all costs. “We will thwart this plan,” said Kickl. He doesn’t want to fall over these “tripwires” and wants to negotiate “honestly, without backrooms and without dirty tricks” in the coming weeks.
Kickl also confirmed his claim to want to become the next Federal Chancellor on Friday during his meeting with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in the Hofburg. He only announced this to the media on Saturday; Kickl spoke of an “atmospherically pleasant and open conversation”. No questions were allowed in the press statement.
In the course of finding a coalition, the FPÖ’s hand was outstretched, Kickl emphasized again. He signaled to Van der Bellen that a coalition against the FPÖ would be a “fatal sign” against the voters. A firewall against democratic parties is also a “wall against democracy itself”.
“It’s Van der Bellen’s turn”
Kickl continued that he was looking for a partner with whom there was a stable collaboration and with whom there was the greatest possible thematic agreement. Stability is guaranteed in a government with two parties and a significant surplus of mandates. He did not name a specific party. But the biggest overlap is probably with the ÖVP. However, its boss Karl Nehammer has repeatedly ruled out government cooperation with Kickl. The same applies to the other parties.
For Kickl, it is now Van der Bellen’s turn; whether he will give Kickl the mandate to form a government remains to be seen. He will only comment publicly after the party talks have concluded. There will be an informal exchange between Nehammer and SP leader Andreas Babler (they are invited to the Federal President’s office today) on Tuesday. However, neither side wants to see this as government negotiations or exploratory talks.
