FPÖ has options

President of the National Council: Hofer leaves, who succeeds him?

Norbert Hofer is leaving the National Council presidency - it is still unclear who will succeed him.

(Bild: APA/EVA MANHART)

Following its victory in the National Council elections, the FPÖ is also entitled to appoint the President of the National Council - at least if one sticks to previous practice. It is certain that Norbert Hofer will not remain on the presidency after his designation as the top candidate for the regional elections in Burgenland. The most promising candidates are the Blue Ombudsman Walter Rosenkranz, Susanne Fürst and Club Director Norbert Nemeth.

The National Council elections on September 29 also significantly shifted the balance of power in the National Council. As the last strongest parliamentary group, the ÖVP provided the President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, who is now retiring. The third President of the National Council was Hofer, who has taken himself out of the race by moving to Burgenland. A possible FPÖ National Council President would still need a majority. The Greens have recently questioned whether the Blue Party will occupy the leadership of parliament in the future.

Blue personnel changes possible
The candidates for the three-member presidency must be decided before the constituent meeting of the National Council on October 24. Kickl had recently made it clear in the party executive that he would only make his proposal shortly beforehand, probably in the club meeting. The choice is also difficult, as the Freedom Party's participation in government is by no means a given and there could still be personnel disputes.

Rosenkranz, Fürst or Nemeth have good prospects
After Hofer's move to Burgenland, the current Ombudsman Rosenkranz is said to have the best prospects. He is said to want to accept his mandate for the National Council. Rosenkranz is also likely to meet with relatively little resistance from the other parliamentary groups - even though he is a member of the academic fraternity Libertas. Rosenkranz could also become the head of the National Council again, should there actually be a Federal Chancellor Kickl. He was already in the turquoise-blue government.

Walter Rosenkranz is considered the most promising candidate for the office of President of the National Council. Rosenkranz is a member of the German nationalist fraternity Libertas.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Susanne Fürst, the FPÖ's current spokesperson for the constitution in the National Council and a member of the U-Committee, also has good prospects. She had already been considered as a candidate for the presidency. Fürst is one of the ideological spearheads of the Freedom Party; before the election, she invited the ÖVP to work with her party to build "Fortress Austria", i.e. a stricter migration policy. Fürst is also a member of the blue exploratory team.

With Susanne Fürst, a woman from the ranks of the FPÖ could occupy one of the highest offices in the state.

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

The blue negotiators again include FPÖ Club Director Nemeth. He is said to be uncontroversial in his current position. However, when it comes to the office of President of the National Council, there is likely to be resistance: Nemeth is a member of the Olympia fraternity. His party colleague Martin Graf also met with fierce resistance before his election as the third President of the National Council in 2008. Both are said to have recently sung a song often used by the Waffen SS at a funeral.

Norbert Nemeth is part of the FPÖ's negotiating team for government participation. He is also a member of a fraternity, namely Olympia, which is classified as right-wing extremist.

(Bild: APA/TANJA UNGERBÖCK)

Kickl himself could take office
However, the option that Kickl himself could become President of the National Council should not be completely ruled out, according to the FPÖ itself. It is possible that the party leader does not want to be accused of having caused the failure of an FPÖ government. Most recently, however, Kickl had emphasized that he did not want to make the same mistake as his political role model Jörg Haider, who had tried to co-govern from Carinthia on demand, which ultimately even blew up the FPÖ and led to the founding of the BZÖ under Haider.