Government formation in Austria: New ways for Federal President van der Bellen

Government formation in Austria: New ways for Federal President van der Bellen

In the coming days, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen will personally conduct exploratory talks to find out which parties are able to form a government. First of all, it should be checked which coalitions are possible before an official government mandate is issued. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) under Herbert Kickl, the previous election winner, has little chance of receiving this order.

The FPÖ is isolated because none of the other four parties represented in Parliament is willing to accept coalition negotiations with it. Even the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the second strongest force in parliament, made it clear that it rejects cooperation with the FPÖ under Kickl. This could cause the FPÖ to be politically alone despite its election success.

On Tuesday, the management committee of the ÖVP meets to decide whether the party follows the chairman Karl Nehammer, who calls for a clear delimitation from the FPÖ. A coalition with the FPÖ does not seem to be possible at the moment, but the final decision is expected in the next few days.

The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) is also preparing for possible negotiations after being accepted in the elections. Chairman Andreas Babler received the party's trust yesterday and is currently not being discussed on his leadership. The SPÖ now focuses on having possible discussions with the ÖVP in order to achieve a majority of government. However, a coalition of these two parties would only have a narrow one-mandate majority.

Source: www.rainews.it