Ash Wednesday counterattack

ÖVP calls Kickl “Will-not-Chancellor”

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl described himself in an Ash Wednesday speech as a "not-yet-chancellor".

(Bild: MAX SLOVENCIK)

As was to be expected, Herbert Kickl once again rumbled loudly in his Ash Wednesday appearance in front of an audience of 2000 in the Jahnturnhalle in Ried im Innkreis. With his insult-laden speech, the FPÖ leader obviously struck a nerve with the ÖVP, which retaliated on Thursday.

ÖVP General Secretary Nico Marchetti accused the Freedom Party of not having held serious coalition talks. Kickl was not the "not-yet-chancellor", as he had meant in his speech, but the "will-not-chancellor", Marchetti said.

In his speech, Kickl had mainly attacked the new government consisting of the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS and announced that he still wanted to become "People's Chancellor" and then "take the mop to the last corners of this republic".

Counter-attack from the ÖVP
Marchetti countered the next day: "When it came to taking responsibility and doing the right thing at the crucial moment, the FPÖ chairman was unwilling to do so and did not seize the opportunity. Kickl hardly got involved in the government negotiations: In five weeks, he sat at the negotiating table for a total of eight hours. He was also unwilling to compromise and enter into a partnership of equals."

Nico Marchetti

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

"His latest speech clearly shows that he and his FPÖ are not interested in responsibility for our republic and the Austrians, but only in rioting and division. One wonders whether Kickl would not have done better to celebrate this Ash Wednesday in a more traditional way and to pause for a moment and reflect. Ultimately, it was he himself who prevented a liberal Federal Chancellor," Marchetti continued.

"His latest speech clearly shows that he and his FPÖ are not interested in responsibility for our republic and the Austrians, but only in rioting and division.

Nico Marchetti, Generalsekretär der Volkspartei

The ÖVP, on the other hand, is doing what it does best, namely working for Austria. Marchetti concluded: "Was that a speech worthy of a Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria? That was a good reassurance that it is good that the Federal Chancellor is called Christian Stocker."