Nehammer, Kickl, ...

Government limbo: What does certainty mean?

In the role of chancellor: first Nehammer, then Kickl, now Stocker

(Bild: AFP)

What twists and turns this young year has already brought! In the USA, President Donald Trump is scaring Europeans anew every day. In Germany, after today's elections, CDU/CSU candidate Friedrich Merz will probably soon take over from failed SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

And in Austria? Since Saturday, we have relative certainty that Merz's party colleague Christian Stocker will head the first Austrian traffic light, the turquoise-red-pink Zuckerl coalition.

Letter to "Krone" readers: Klaus Herrmann, Managing Editor-in-Chief

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

But what does certainty mean? Fast forward to the beginning of January, 14 weeks after the National Council elections, the governing Karl Nehammer also appeared to be the future ÖVP Chancellor.

Then the NEOS broke off the negotiations and Nehammer disappeared. Since then, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has led the government.

For almost six weeks, the country believed that the blue election winner Herbert Kickl would be the next Federal Chancellor. Until he himself realized that neither the potential coalition partner ÖVP nor he himself would be able to jump over the bar that had been set too high.

The bar is now very low. Nevertheless, the Stocker/Babler/Meinl-Reisinger trio will hardly jump over it.

We will be happy if they at least slip under the bar in the government limbo.

Have a nice Sunday with your "Krone"!