Van der Bellen studies coalition between extremists and conservatives or calling new elections
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen is studying this Sunday the political course to follow in the country after the collapse yesterday afternoon of negotiations for a coalition government that has taken down the chancellor and president of the Austrian People’s Party (OVP), Karl Niehammer, and reopens the possibility that the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), the most voted in the elections of September 29, ends up jumping over a “cordon sanitaire” already completely fractured and receives a mandate to form a government.
“We will see if the People’s Party understands, even a little, the power that the population has through the ballot box,” declared the leader of the FPO, Herbert Kickl. “Now they are facing the rubble of their prevention strategy,” he added, without elaborating on Van der Bellen’s opinion.
The head of the far-right party in Vienna, Dominik Nepp, has nevertheless offered two alternatives: a negotiation with the People’s Party, or the calling of new elections, as he made known last night in an interview with the Austrian public radio and television ORF. According to the latest polls, the FPO would experience a notable increase in its support, going from 29% obtained in the elections to the National Council to nearly 35%.
Sources from the media indicate that Van der Bellen is waiting for the decision of the Popular Party on the possibility of starting conversations with the far-right with a view to a coalition government in which it would be the junior partner, knowing that they are still behind in the polls in view of possible new elections.
In any case, it will be necessary to appoint a new “transitional” chancellor, a position for which the former head of government, Sebastian Kurz, has already been mentioned. Kurz, however, is not interested in returning to office after Nehammer’s departure, sources close to him confirmed to the DPA agency. Although the former chancellor led a coalition with the FPO between 2017 and 2019, he is currently satisfied with his role as a businessman.
The OVP leadership is meeting this Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to discuss the situation, the party announced in a statement reported by the newspaper ‘Die Presse’. According to information from the ORF, the FPO leadership has also met in Vienna and is awaiting future developments.
Whatever happens, the party with a mandate to form a government will face the same economic challenge that led to the collapse of talks on Saturday: according to the European Commission, the next government will have to save between 18 and 24 billion euros, in a country that has been in recession for two years, where unemployment is rising and its budget deficit currently stands at 3.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), above the 3 percent limit set by Brussels.
