Recently, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has been trying to see something positive in the unspeakable course of the government negotiations. "Let's not forget that thoroughness has a value," he said at Christmas: "Our future should finally stand on strong and sustainable legs."
In reality, Van der Bellen has lost control: ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer is unable to fulfill the government formation mandate that he gave him two months ago in a manageable time and in such a way that the whole thing is approved by even a narrow majority of Austrians. Approved in the sense that at least 50.1 percent believe that necessary reforms are being fought for here; that it is a sensible, meaningful struggle of the turquoise, red and pink.
Instead, a majority of Austrians perceive this: Nehammer brings nothing further with Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Neos). They have taken weeks to agree on the extent of the budget consolidation that needs to be managed in the coming years. However, they are still very much divided in terms of content. Keyword wealth taxes, which Babler is pushing for. Apart from that, there is nothing in sight that could pass as a big "lighthouse project".
Instead, the impression is created that a great mess is going on. This is fatal: If it were different, Nehammer and Co. would have had to counteract this long ago and let corresponding headlines leak out. They didn't do it and therefore run the risk of being written off from the outset by a mass, even if a collaboration comes about.
This also affects Van der Bellen: Many people still do not understand why he left out FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl in the government formation mandate. He has given arguments. For example, Kickl's attitudes towards Europe and the war in Ukraine. He also pointed out that neither Nehammer nor Babler are willing to form a coalition with him. The problem, however, is that this is not convincing enough for many people in Austria. And that Kickl is therefore already moving towards 40 percent in polls with the FPÖ.
It would therefore be all the more important for Van der Bellen that the government formation mandate he gave to Nehammer is properly fulfilled. That the results are so strong that no one talks about Kickl anymore. However, this is not to be expected. So far, Nehammer has not delivered as a government formation commissioner what he should have delivered.
Kickl can be pleased: He is already benefiting from the fact that in the eyes of not a few people, he should really be entitled to the chancellorship. And he is now also benefiting from the fact that what is coming instead is turning out to be anything but convincing.
Johannes Huber runs the blog dieSubstanz.at – Analyses and backgrounds on politics
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.