Strained relationship

Van der Bellen seeks solution to Kickl problem

Difficult days lie ahead for Alexander Van der Bellen.

(Bild: APA/FLORIAN WIESER)

On election night, President Van der Bellen was still on the phone to Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). The ÖVP wants Kickl to be given the government mandate first.

Alexander Van der Bellen and Herbert Kickl - an extremely strained relationship. The rift occurred in 2019. The Federal President dismissed Kickl as Interior Minister at the request of then Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Never before had a minister been removed from office in the Second Republic.

Five years later, Van der Bellen is now supposed to give the FPÖ leader, of all people, whom he kicked out of the coalition on edge, the government mandate. The Federal President seems to have difficulty overcoming this hurdle. In his speech to the nation, the head of state named conditions for the government mandate.

NEOS: Weak position in the negotiations 
The second-placed ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer phoned the Hofburg on election night. The Chancellor asked Van der Bellen to give the government mandate to the first-placed candidate in the election. All ÖVP party members at the election party said that any other approach would polarize the country even more and would not be in line with democratic practices. If Kickl cannot form a coalition, it is legitimate for Van der Bellen to give the runner-up the power to form a coalition.

The SPÖ has already nominated its coalition team. NEOS will follow suit today, Tuesday. It is well known that Beate Meinl-Reisinger is determined to sit on the government bench. However, her negotiating position has deteriorated. The ÖVP and SPÖ currently hold 92 seats - a wafer-thin majority in parliament. If Meinl-Reisinger fails, she will also lose her position as leader of the pink party.

Another option: Van der Bellen waits with the government mandate until two or three parties approach him with a negotiated government program.