POLITIQ

On January 4th, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced his impending resignation from office. This decision comes after the country’s biggest centrist parties failed to negotiate the terms on forming a coalition government.

To understand how this unfolded, let us first let us wind back to late September - the time when the results of the Austrian parliamentary election became clear. The far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) secured 28.9% of the vote, giving it an almost three-point lead over the conservative People's Party (ÖVP) in an election which was characterised by an impressive turnout of 77.3%.

The winning party campaigned on a very strong anti-immigration and anti-Islam platform, which proved to resonate with Austrian population. For instance, FPÖ vowed to build ‘Fortress Austria’, referencing the party’s priority of drastically reducing migration flows. Economic factors, such as the rising cost of living and inflation, also played a part in the growth of the FPÖ’s popularity. Even the numerous controversies surrounding the party, such as its leader Herbert Kickl controversially adopting Adolf Hitler’s label of ‘people’s chancellor’ to describe himself, did not diminish the party’s support.

However, as FPÖ’s share of the vote was far away from granting the party a majority, the coalition talks were bound to take place. Even from the outset most of the parties refused to align with their far-right counterparts. The Social Democrats, Greens and Neos have outright refused to have any connection with FPÖ, while the incumbent ÖVP has been more ambiguous. Although, its leader and Austrian incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that it was ‘impossible to form a government with someone who adores conspiracy theories’.

Therefore, the long process of forming a government has been taking place till now. A significant development occurred on January 4th when Karl Nehammer admitted to enormous difficulties of forming a coalition between Austria’s main centrist parties in ÖVP, liberal NEOS and Social Democrats - and announced his plan to resign shortly.

This comes as a significant aid to the FPÖ, which has thus far been blocked from forming a government due to the refusal of other parties collaborating with them. It is hard to imagine that Austria has a Belgian-style coalition negotiation period, which once went up to around two years. Hence, it might only be a matter of time before the FPÖ will be considered a viable governing partner by others in the Austrian parliament.

It is perhaps essential to remember that parties such as FPÖ not only pledge to deal with the immigration issues and economic troubles, but oftentimes aim for a restructure of a democratic order in their countries. Herbert Kickl, for example, has been open about his admiration for Hungarian leader Viktor Orban and his vision to transform Austria into a ‘illiberal democracy’ which would be modelled on Orban's policies.

The question of priorities for the Austrian political establishment remains open now. They have an opportunity to forge a challenging but necessary compromise on the more contentious issues, such as the budget, to keep the far-right party out of power. Alternatively, they may pursue a simpler path and do a very straightforward deal with the FPÖ, the party with the most votes in the recent election. However, it has to be their responsibility to face the consequences for the future of democracy in Austria and Europe as a whole.