Fast pace

Coalition: Wallner wants to talk to Bitschi

Markus Wallner does not want a situation like that in Vienna after the election and is stepping on the gas to form a government.

(Bild: APA/Barbara Gindl)

In-depth talks with the FPÖ will start on Thursday. If these go well, the government negotiations could be held as early as Monday. If they are concluded quickly, the new government could be sworn in as early as November 6.

Following the almost traditional round of talks with all party leaders represented in the state parliament on Tuesday after the election, Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) has now decided with whom he wants to hold in-depth talks on forming a government. Unsurprisingly, this is FPÖ party leader Christof Bitschi.

FPÖ provincial party leader Christof Bitschi is likely to move from the opposition to the government bench.

(Bild: Maurice Shourot)

"The election has produced a clear result. We as the Vorarlberg People's Party have received a clear mandate to govern," said Governor Wallner. On Thursday, the VP core team with Governor Markus Wallner, State Governor Barbara Schöbi-Fink, Club Chairman Roland Frühstück and State Managing Director Dietmar Wetz will discuss fundamental issues in depth with the FPÖ negotiating team.

From Monday it's down to the nitty-gritty
If these talks are positive, which can also be assumed, the actual coalition negotiations should then start on Monday. The plan is to deal with the individual issues one by one. For the ÖVP - depending on the topic - the responsible ÖVP government member will also be present alongside those already named.

The exciting questions - how many and which portfolios the FPÖ will receive - will probably only be negotiated at the end. It is unlikely that Bitschi will be fobbed off with fewer members of government, as party leader Hubert Gorbach once was, in exchange for the post of provincial governor.

For one thing, the Freedom Party member has already announced several times that he cares little for offices and titles. Secondly, it would not necessarily be in the interests of the ÖVP for Bitschi to run the government if the worst comes to the worst. As a reminder: in the summer of 2022, Wallner would have gone on sick leave for several weeks due to burnout, leaving state governor Schöbi-Fink in charge.