"Two-faced"

Chancellor attacks Kickl for saying death penalty

Ongoing dispute: Chancellor Nehammer (left) and FPÖ leader Kickl are at loggerheads.

(Bild: Harald Dostal, Uta Wiedergut, Krone KREATIV)

Around a month before election day, emotions are already running high in the chancellor duel between the ÖVP and the FPÖ. After his "inbreeding" comment at the festival, the issue is once again Herbert Kickl's statements - this time on the death penalty.

The latest dispute was triggered by the FPÖ leader's statement in an interview with provincial newspapers, in which he said that the death penalty could be reintroduced through a popular initiative - even though he, Kickl, is himself an opponent and this decision would probably not be capable of winning a majority.

"Be against it - but let the people decide ..."
Chancellor Karl Nehammer nevertheless sees this as proof that the radicalization on the right edge of the political spectrum is continuing. "It's a bit duplicitous to claim that you're against it, but you let the people vote on something that represents a step back into the Middle Ages."

Herbert Kickl has radicalized himself on the right edge of the political spectrum. We will not vote on human rights in Austria and certainly not on the death penalty.

Bundeskanzler Karl Nehammer auf X

The death penalty was abolished for good reason and in "European unison", the Chancellor emphasizes. According to the Chancellor, deradicalization is also the order of the day in political language.

"Fear completely unfounded"
"Desperate accusations" are being made by the Freedom Party. "The feigned fear of the ÖVP and SPÖ of a reintroduction of the death penalty in Austria is completely unfounded," countered Christian Hafenecker, Secretary General of the Blue Party.

In the interviews, which were apparently only partially read or understood by the black-red parties, Kickl had stated unequivocally that he was a strict opponent of the death penalty. "No human being has the right to take the life of another", the FPÖ states.