The President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, announced this Tuesday that he has entrusted the formation of the next Government to the current Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democrats (ÖVP), Karl Nehammer, to seek an agreement with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and such time a third party ―the liberals of Neos or Los Verdes―. The extreme right, which won the parliamentary elections on September 29 with 28.8%, has been left out of the race. As Van der Bellen has highlighted, “no one wants to make an agreement” with its leader, Herbert Kickl, or with the Freedom Party (FPÖ). Furthermore, Kickl has proclaimed since election night that he will not enter a government that he does not lead as chancellor. “Austria needs a Government that can act, is stable and has integrity,” the president stressed in a speech to the citizens, in which he explained that the conservatives, who were second with 26.3%, and the social democrats, with 21.1% are now called to seek “commitments” to form an Executive as soon as possible.
Although tradition has until now dictated that the president entrust the negotiations to the winning party – since World War II they have been conservative or social democrats – Van der Bellen decided not to do so after a first round with the leaders of all the parties with parliamentary representation. . The president already confirmed then that the extreme right was not in a position to attract possible partners for a Government headed by Kickl, which the rest of the parties consider extremely radical and a danger to the security of the country and democracy, so he asked the parties that would “clarify” the situation with new conversations to decide the next steps.
From these second conversations – and the public statements of the leaders – the Austrian president has once again concluded that the ultras do not have partners at this time to head the Executive. According to Van der Bellen, the leaders of the rest of the parties have expressed in their interviews with him that they are concerned about the future of liberal democracy and the security of the country if the Executive is left in the hands of an FPÖ which, in addition, they reproach for its Euroscepticism, proximity to Russia and even more extremist groups.