Set as minister

Tussle for Wiederkehr’s successor in Vienna rages on

(From left:) Selma Arapović, Stefan Gara, Yannick Shetty, Bettina Emmerling - who will succeed Christoph Wiederkehr (center)? Wiederkehr himself gives cautious hints.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/NEOS Wien SEPA Media KG Michael Indra Max Slovencik Georg Hochmuth APA pictturedesk.com Martin Jöchl)

It is becoming increasingly likely that Vienna's Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr will move into federal politics. For the NEOS, this means a delicate castling immediately before the election. The race for his successor is being held in secret - but Wiederkehr is making it clear who he would like to see.

Vienna's Deputy Mayor and City Councillor for Education Christoph Wiederkehr is currently doing everything he can to fulfill his role as the NEOS lead candidate in the run-up to the municipal elections: Plans for the next legislative period in Vienna, campaign appearances and media appointments are currently non-stop from him. Yet on the day of the election, he may already be the education minister of a new federal government. Accordingly, intensive work is already underway behind the scenes to find a successor for Vienna.

Daring election campaign balancing act
For Wiederkehr and the NEOS, the fact that he will lead his party into the Vienna elections as the top candidate is set in stone. Just last weekend, 90.4 percent of party members confirmed him in this position. This means that the NEOS are preparing for a rather daring campaign balancing act: tailored to a top candidate who, above all, is certain not to be involved in Viennese politics after the election. This makes it all the more important for the party to present the successor in the best possible light during the election campaign.

The silence of the NEOS

The NEOS do not want to say a word about Wiederkehr's possible move into federal politics and the consequences for the Viennese party. This is not only due to the ongoing coalition negotiations, but also to the NEOS party statutes: Any coalition pact must be approved by two thirds of the members. This is due to happen on Sunday. To save themselves any embarrassment, no one wants to commit to future offices beforehand, which may then disappear into thin air.

Three names are coming up more and more frequently
There are three names in particular that are currently being mentioned most frequently as possible successors to Wiederkehr: Club leader Bettina Emmerling, her deputy, science spokesperson Stefan Gara and local councillor and housing spokesperson Selma Arapović. She is currently in second place on the election list behind Wiederkehr, followed by Emmerling and Gara. Arapović's communication skills and the fact that she is already somewhat familiar with city government business as the coalition counterpart of Deputy Mayor Kathrin Gaál, the City Councillor for Housing, speak in her favor.

Wiederkehr and Gara at the Neos state members' meeting

(Bild: MAX SLOVENCIK)

Gara is also familiar with everyday government life in the town hall. As NEOS spokesperson for science, energy, climate protection, health and digitalization, he also helped shape political decisions in all of these areas in the red-pink coalition. According to reports, Gara is keen to have even more opportunities to shape policy, which the top political position would entail. Nevertheless, he could lose out - at least if you read between the lines of Wiederkehr's hints.

Wiederkehr makes hints
When asked about personnel decisions in the NEOS, Wiederkehr has recently emphasized that the party has "many capable women" in its ranks. This could be an indication of club leader Bettina Emmerling's chances. She would be a somewhat "fresh face" to the outside world, but her leading position among the NEOS MPs gives her the advantage of knowing each of them well and having maintained coalition discipline so far. Her area of expertise is also education, which would equip her for this topic area in the city government.

Member of the National Council Yannick Shetty is mentioned as a personnel reserve in addition to the Vienna NEOS staff.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Or will everything turn out differently?
Perhaps things will turn out quite differently and a NEOS swap will take place between Vienna and the federal government. Member of the National Council Yannick Shetty is also thought to have a chance of succeeding Wiederkehr, perhaps only as Vienna party leader and not in the city government. His membership of the NEOS party executive would give him the necessary weight, and he has also always kept a foot in the door of the Viennese party during his National Council mandate. But one thing is certain: whoever succeeds Wiederkehr as city councillor for education and youth will be the record holder as the shortest-serving member of the Red-Pink 1 city government.

If Wiederkehr accepts a ministerial office, he will have to be replaced by a member of the city government who is already in office. Regardless of who takes over Wiederkehr's duties in the town hall, he or she would only be an "accessory" without official rights until confirmed by the municipal council. The municipal council meets twice before the election, once on March 26 and once on April 23. This means that Wiederkehr's successor would go into the election with at best one month's experience in office - but perhaps only four days before the election on April 27.