Kickl calls for the folk chancellorship: FPÖ fights for Upper Austria's top!

Kickl calls for the folk chancellorship: FPÖ fights for Upper Austria's top!

Herbert Kickl, the Federal Party chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), congratulated Manfred Haimbuchner on the re -election as the state party chairman of the FPÖ Oberösterreich on April 5, 2025. During a press conference, Kickl praised Haimbuchner and emphasized the successful structure of the FPÖ for a power and competence center in the region. He expressed the need for the FPÖ to become the strongest party in Upper Austria, especially in the context of the challenges that the last election of the National Council brought with it.

The FPÖ achieved 29.2 percent of the vote in this election on September 29, 2024 and thus became the strongest party for the first time. In contrast, the ÖVP only reached 26.5 percent, which is a loss of 11 percentage points. Kickl was dissatisfied with this result and called for more commitment from his colleagues to regain the trust of voters. "29 percent are not enough," he said, called on not only to strive for the quantity of the voices, but also to focus on the interests of the population.

criticism of the government

In his speech, Kickl spoke sharply against the current government, which he described as a "loser ambulance". He criticized their political orientation as incapable of and without visions that Austrian society leads only out of fear. Kickl demanded courage, love of freedom and optimism to bring Austria back to the top in Europe. He also expressed the desire to bring the FPÖ to the Chancellery under changed conditions.

The political landscape in Austria is on the move. The old coalition of ÖVP and Greens will offer their resignation, which the Federal President will accept. Chancellor Karl Nehammer already has permission to continue shops until a new government was formed. This could possibly take up to six months, which further increases uncertainty in the political arena.

the turnout and the role of the other parties

The turnout was almost 80 percent, which shows that the interest of the voters is great in political development. Herbert Kickl emphasized that the voters have spoken a "power word" and signaled a willingness to form a government, but it currently looks as if none of the other parties want to work with the FPÖ under Kickl. The SPÖ in particular positions itself as a "fire wall" against the FPÖ and achieved 21 percent of the votes. At the same time, the NEOS won 9 percent, which means 1 percentage point.

The Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen pointed out that a new Chancellor has to respect the "cornerstones of liberal democracy". This could bring further complications in the coalition negotiations, while Kickl and the FPÖ are looking for opportunities to gain more influence in the government.