The VP government members were actually supposed to focus on the remaining coalition program at their retreat in Krems on Tuesday. However, a meeting of the black country leaders on Sunday at Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s place confused the priorities. Individual participants are said to have thought out loud regarding bringing forward the National Council election to the spring.
The VP headquarters said that such considerations were “not an issue”. The exam is regarding Nehammer’s “Austria plan and the implementation of the government’s work by autumn”. The Chancellor himself had previously confirmed his intention to work until the end of the legislative period in an ORF interview.
No higher logic
Regular appointment in autumn
The regular date for the National Council election would be in the fall. In order to go to the polls before the summer, a new election decision would be required by the beginning of March at the latest, according to the deadline. In principle, this first requires a majority in the plenary session to decide on an early dissolution of parliament and a decision to hold new elections. Theoretically, the National Council can also be dissolved by the Federal President at the suggestion of the government, but this has never happened in the Second Republic.
After the new election decision has been made, the federal government must announce the election by means of a regulation in the Federal Law Gazette. This must contain the election day, which is determined by the federal government in agreement with the main committee of the National Council. In addition, the regulation must contain the deadline, which must be the eighty-second day before election day. Various deadlines begin to run from him, such as those for the appointment of the district returning officers, the assessors and the constitution of the electoral authorities. But he also determines various requirements for the right to vote, eligibility or the collection of declarations of support from the smaller parties.
No confirmation for “new election deal”
It takes around three months from the new election decision to the election. So if you wanted to vote on the last weekend in May (Sunday May 26th), the deadline would be March 5th. For a vote on the first weekend in May (Sunday May 5th), the deadline would be February 13th. If you want to elect the National Council at the same time as the EU election, the deadline would be March 19th.
There is no official confirmation from the governing parties of a “new election deal” between Turquoise and Green, which has been repeatedly rumored in media reports. According to a report in the “Standard”, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed in the summer that new elections, if so, would only be called in coalition agreement. This is intended to prevent a so-called free play of forces in the National Council in the last weeks before the election and a reversal of turquoise-green projects.
Although it would be legally possible to combine the National Council election and the EU election, experts say such a super election Sunday would pose a huge administrative challenge. There are different groups of eligible voters and deadlines for the two nationwide elections.
Silent country leaders
The VP country heads were cautious during a broadcast on Tuesday. They either spoke out in favor of the regular election date or kept a low profile or referred to the federal party.
The Styrian VP boss and state governor Christopher Drexler wants to keep the election dates for the National Council and Styrian state elections, as his office said. He is of the opinion that one should serve the legislative period; he also recommended this Styrian route for the federal level. In Styria, a new state parliament is regularly elected in November. When asked, the Carinthian ÖVP state party chairman Martin Gruber did not want to elicit any preference when it came to bringing the election forward: “I am assuming that there will be an election on September 29th.”
Stelzer “does not want to comment officially”
Upper Austria’s VP Governor Thomas Stelzer does not want to “officially comment” on the issue, as his office said. Burgenland state party chairman Christian Sagartz does not want to take part in the speculation. From Lower Austria it was simply said that this decision had to be made in Vienna. For Tyrol’s state governor and VP state party chairman Anton Mattle, a new election is also “currently not an issue”: “That’s why the Tyrolean People’s Party will not take part in speculation in this regard.”
And Vorarlberg’s state governor Markus Wallner also declined to comment on the date of the National Council election on Tuesday: “I have no plans to take part in new election speculation,” he said in the press foyer following the meeting of the Vorarlberg state government. Wallner made it clear in an interview shortly before the turn of the year that the Vorarlberg state elections, which will also take place this year, should be held following the National Council election and a few weeks apart.
Vienna’s ÖVP leader Karl Mahrer assured that the Viennese party did not want to take part in speculation. “Internal meetings remain internal,” he said in a statement. He asks for your understanding.
