He made this clear on Wednesday in a statement in the presidential office after he had concluded the round of discussions with party leaders the day before. The head of state now expects that the leaders of the three parties with the highest number of votes, FPÖ, ÖVP and SPÖ, will “reliably clarify what kind of cooperation would be conceivable.” FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl wants to coordinate the talks with the ÖVP and SPÖ, and the SPÖ will follow Van der Bellen’s order.
More on the topic
Domestic politics Formation of a government: The game for time in the Hofburg is entering the next round
- A Comment You can read about the topic here.
Ultimately, at least two of the three larger parties are needed for government cooperation. Herbert Kickl (FPÖ), Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and Andreas Babler (SPÖ) have until the end of next week to do this. Then the Federal President wants to invite them to find out about the outcome of the talks. Van der Bellen wants to inform the public again as soon as there is news to report, he said.
Video: Van der Bellen’s statement in full
“A classic stalemate”
It is common practice for the leader of the party with the largest number of votes to receive a mandate to form a government, but it is not enshrined in the constitution. Van der Bellen justified the need for a new approach by saying that an “unusual case” had occurred – namely that there was an election winner in the FPÖ, with whom none of the other parties apparently wanted to govern: “Ladies and gentlemen, a classic stalemate .”
‘,’pinpoll-283433’, null, null, ‘C0004’);
});
While FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl assured that the FPÖ would exist in a government only with him as chancellor, the other parties have ruled out cooperation with the FPÖ – in the case of the ÖVP specifically with Kickl, explained Van der Bellen. His conversations with the party leaders would have reinforced this impression. “Do everyone involved really mean what they said?” asked the Federal President. This can actually be assumed, but: “I want clarity for Austria.” In any case, exploratory talks, which are doomed to failure from the outset, would not help the country move forward.
Although not intended to form a government, FPÖ leader Kickl invoked his position as chairman of “the party with the highest number of votes and the clear election winner.” As such, he would “coordinate meetings with the leaders of the second-placed ÖVP and the third-placed SPÖ,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. He has not yet taken this step out of consideration for customs in the run-up to previous government formations. Van der Bellen’s statement was followed “with great interest” in the FPÖ.
This video is disabled
Please activate the categories Performance cookies and Functional Cookies in your cookie settings to display this item. My cookie settings
“We are of course complying with the Federal President’s order and will hold talks with the other party leaders,” the SPÖ said on Wednesday. The next steps will be coordinated with the other parties: “We will inform the Federal President of the results of the discussions next week.” There was initially no statement from the ÖVP, and no statements are currently planned.
This article was last published on October 9th. updated at 4:20 p.m.
