Blue wave rolls in

State election: ÖVP looks anxiously at small Ländle

Nobody wants to be with Kickl, the FPÖ doesn't want to be without him.

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

The government negotiations are at a stalemate, says Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. Unusual proposals are now being put forward in the search for a solution. The blue camp, of all parties, is proposing a coalition government consisting of all five parties. The "Krone" investigates how realistic this is.

The parties are looking to Vorarlberg on Sunday, where the provincial parliament will be re-elected and the ÖVP is threatened with losses, just like in the federal government. Elections and new government constellations in the federal states will certainly influence the negotiations in Vienna. After five years of turquoise-green coalition, a turquoise-blue coalition is expected after the elections. This is particularly desired by industry, which is very strong in the westernmost federal state.

Industry tends towards turquoise-blue
Voices in favor of an ÖVP-FPÖ coalition are also coming from the turquoise-blue governed states of Upper Austria and Lower Austria. At a summit meeting of the Federation of Austrian Industries in Lower Austria and Upper Austria with the provincial governors Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Thomas Stelzer as well as 50 representatives of leading industrial companies at the Landhaus in Linz, there was much debate about the future government. IV-OÖ President Stefan Pierer said unequivocally: "In Switzerland, the two strongest voters form a government, and that doesn't need Van der Bellen."

IV-OÖ President Stefan Pierer

(Bild: FOTOKERSCHI.AT)

"Concentration government with everyone in parliament"
At federal level, however, turquoise-blue is currently not an option: ÖVP chairman Karl Nehammer does not want to work with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ does not want to work without him. "Krone" columnist and former FPÖ politician Andreas Mölzer has now come up with a new proposal on how this problem could be solved. "The only sensible option is to form a concentration government with all parties represented in parliament along the lines of the Swiss model. With the FPÖ leader at the top and, if necessary, one of the following rotations in the chancellor's office. That could be a blessing for the Republic," says Mölzer.

Proportional representation was abolished in the 90s
The parties are skeptical of this idea. A government made up of all parties comes from the time after the Second World War, when everyone stuck together and had to pull in the same direction. In the 1990s, proportional representation governments were gradually abolished in the federal states. They now only exist in Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Vienna, although coalitions are still formed in all three federal states. The "proportional" provincial councillors from other parties have little to no authority or only a control function.

The ÖVP and SPÖ are surprised that the idea of a concentration government comes from the blue camp, and from Carinthia at that - after all, it was once Jörg Haider who stood up against proportional representation. And Herbert Kickl is smugly writing in his notebook: "Anyone who insults everyone else for years, burns all bridges and leaves nothing but scorched earth behind need not be surprised if he can't find a partner afterwards.

The Greens and the Blues don't even agree on the day and time. How are they supposed to agree on political content?

Peter Filzmaier

Bild: Imre Antal

For political scientist Peter Filzmaier, the comparison with Switzerland is misleading. After all, there was no Nazi era there and, unlike in Austria, the parties never shot at each other. There, people have traditionally governed together. If two or three parties are already struggling, a five-party coalition would only create the lowest common denominator. "You might as well have a government of civil servants."