Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) is inching closer to forming a ‘grand coalition’ with the social democrat SPÖ, according to Austrian Exxpress. Coalition talks are expected to continue next week.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen gave Nehammer the task of government formation after all parties declared their unwillingness to work with FPÖ, the winner of the September election. Right-wing nationalist FPÖ, which doubled its support from 2019, received 28.8% of the vote compared to ÖVP’s 26.3%. Traditionally, the largest party is asked to form a government.
Not everyone in the chancellor’s own party is happy about his negotiations with the social democrats, whose leader Andreas Babler is a self-proclaimed Marxist. On many issues, including migration, as commentators have pointed out, the right-wing FPÖ is closer to the centrist ÖVP than the leftist parties are.
ÖVP’s Martin Engelberg, who left the National Council in late October, said he would have “preferred if the ÖVP had positioned itself differently both in terms of content and personnel and had seized the opportunity to become first again.” Styrian Governor Christopher Drexler, also ÖVP, said he questions the possibility of his party coming to agreement with the social democrats on economic issues.
Adding to the concerns of critics is the fact that the razor-thin majority the party would have together with the social democrats means a third coalition partner would likely be necessary—either the liberal NEOS or the Greens. In either case, to please its coalition partners, the ÖVP would be forced to shift policy to the left, contrary to the express will of voters.
Nehammer isn’t the only one facing public criticism for his decisions. A petition launched on October 22nd, to date signed by 69,000 Austrians, is calling for President Van Der Bellen to immediately resign. Last month, the annual ‘Institutions Trust Index,’ a survey of Austrian voters by the OGM Institute, showed Van Der Bellen dropping in trust compared to last year by six percentage points, to 22%. That still puts him higher on the trust index than the EU and the media, which are both ranking in negative numbers.
