Coalition Negotiations Heading Towards Record

It was clear on election night that the government formation would take longer this time, given the complicated initial situation. 94 days have passed since then and a government agreement is not yet in sight. Five years ago, the government formation took 100 days, on the 94th day - also New Year's Day back then - the agreement on the coalition pact was announced. This schedule is hardly feasible this time and the coalition negotiations are well on their way to becoming one of the longest.

Government Formation on Track to be One of the Longest

The average government formation time after the previous elections of the Second Republic of 62.4 days until the inauguration has already been exceeded since December 1st. In the ranking of negotiation duration, the turquoise-red-pink talks with 94 days since the election on September 29th are currently in sixth place, in two days it will be the fifth longest government formation of the Second Republic.

Since an inauguration by January 7th is unlikely, the future coalition is likely to soon move up to fourth place. If the government is inaugurated between January 10th and 31st, the government negotiators would be those with the third longest endurance.

NEOS Still Need to Convene a Membership Meeting

A podium finish is therefore quite realistic, as even if the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS agree on a coalition agreement in the coming days, the NEOS still have to have this approved by their general assembly. The official invitation for this must be sent out at least one week in advance according to the party's constitution.

For a new record, the negotiations would have to last another month and the government would not take office until February 6th. The longest - namely 129 days - the Austrians had to wait so far was in 1962/63, until the ÖVP and SPÖ - reluctantly - agreed for the last time before the phase of single-party governments. Second place would already be on February 1st - if the 124 days are exceeded, which it took in 1999 until finally the (already parallel built) first black-blue government under Wolfgang Schüssel - after long, ultimately failed SPÖ-ÖVP negotiations - was sworn in.

Nehammer referred to negotiation duration after last NR election

ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer recently liked to refer to the turquoise-green government negotiations five years ago. At that time, the election was also held on September 29, the coalition negotiations were successfully concluded on January 1, and the inauguration took place six days later. However, exploratory and coalition talks started earlier at that time. Eight days after the election, ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz, as the then election winner, received the mandate to form a government from Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. Nehammer, under whom the ÖVP slipped to second place, only received the official mandate 23 days after the election.

Although the real government negotiations were then taken up after relatively swift exploratory talks, these are complicated by the fact that for the first time since 1945 three parties are sitting at the negotiating table. The ÖVP and Greens needed 47 days from the start of concrete coalition negotiations in 2019 until the agreement on a joint government program was announced on January 1, 2020. The coalition negotiations are currently on day 44.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.