Coalition in Vienna: SPÖ and Neos shortly before the final agreement!

Coalition in Vienna: SPÖ and Neos shortly before the final agreement!

Wien, Österreich - The government negotiations between the SPÖ and Neos in Vienna reach their peak. As vienna.at the presentation of a coalition agreement for the beginning of next week is expected. The agreement between the two parties is considered certain because the negotiations have so far been smooth.

The SPÖ and NEOS have been working successfully since 2020, and the recently held Vienna election on April 27 paved the way to continue this cooperation. SPÖ state party chairman and mayor Michael Ludwig conducted exploratory talks with the coalition partner after the election.

Details for coalition formation

The most likely presentation of the coalition agreement is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. While the SPÖ convened party bodies for Wednesday, NEOS is also planning to convene a state general meeting. An exact date has not yet been determined, but an appointment is sought on the Pentecost weekend. The constituent meeting of the local council is to take place in the week after this general meeting.

In the Vienna election, the SPÖ slightly lost votes and came to almost 40 percent. The NEOS, on the other hand, crossed the 10 percent hurdle, which led to a mutual increase. Despite this positive development, the SPÖ lost three seats, while the NEOS could gain two seats. The new municipal council will include a total of 53 seats, which represents a significant renewal of the political landscape in the city.

City Senate and Sits

The structure of the city council is another important topic in the current negotiations. The city senate currently consists of twelve members, with the SPÖ only having five city councils left. In view of this distribution, a change in the size of the city council is necessary to secure the majority. The proportional system in Vienna differentiates between "managers" and "non -managing" city councilors and requires that the total number of city councils is between nine and 15. The decision about it lies with the local council.

The seats are currently distributed as follows: The SPÖ has six seats, the Neos one, the ÖVP and the Greens two each, and the FPÖ has a city council. If the number of city councils is left to twelve, the SPÖ would probably only occupy five seats, which would mean significant weakening. Alternatively, the coalition could strive to increase to 13 city councilors to gain more seats than the opposition. In theory, it is also possible to reduce the city senate to eleven or ten seats, which would be at the expense of the FPÖ and the Greens. 

These developments are of great importance for political stability in Vienna and show how decisive the coming days will be for government formation. ORF Vienna and ORF Vienna could have far -reaching effects on political cooperation in the city.