FPÖ Offer to ÖVP: Kickl Insists on Interior and Finance Ministry in Coalition Negotiations

ÖVP leader Christian Stocker, together with ÖVP club chairman August Wöginger and Chamber of Commerce head Harald Mahrer, left the federal party headquarters in Vienna's Lichtenfelsgasse through the back exit shortly before half past twelve. He did not want to comment to the APA. According to APA information, the exchange with FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl was over an hour later. Where this took place is not known.

ÖVP Only Interested in Positions According to FPÖ - FPÖ Demands Interior and Finance Ministry from ÖVP

In a video in the morning, Kickl clarified that it was not the FPÖ's fault that ministries were constantly being discussed. That was the ÖVP's wish. The Freedom Party would have preferred to clarify the content beforehand. FPÖ General Secretary Christian Hafenecker echoed this sentiment a little later, also accusing the negotiating partner via FPÖ-TV of wanting to talk only about positions instead of content for the past two weeks. On Wednesday, it was the FPÖ that took the lead and presented to the media the offer that had been put on the table for the ÖVP the day before. In this offer, the two controversial ministries, those for finance and the interior, remained with the Freedom Party. The ÖVP was now newly granted social affairs, while the Freedom Party would secure labor. Overall, the People's Party would even have one more office than the FPÖ.

ÖVP's Own Proposal to FPÖ

The ÖVP apparently does not like the offer. Because on Wednesday, they sent out their own proposal. This contains two variants, each seeing the interior ministry with the People's Party. In one proposal, however, the asylum agendas would be outsourced to a separate ministry, which would go to the FPÖ. The catch: in that case, the finance ministry would fall to the ÖVP. The other variant envisions a Freedom Party state secretary for asylum in a VP-led interior ministry. The finance ministry would then fall to the FPÖ. The FPÖ did not take long to reject the offer. Keeping the finance ministry with the ÖVP would mean that the party responsible for the financial imbalance could continue to work there. A shared interior ministry, on the other hand, would be constitutionally fraught with a multitude of problems. State secretaries in ministries of the other party had already been ruled out in advance.

ÖVP Criticism of FPÖ

Regardless of the positions, there was continued criticism from the ÖVP towards the Freedom Party. Secretary General Alexander Pröll complained that the FPÖ had still not responded to the list of principles for a joint government presented by the People's Party on Monday. This included, for example, a commitment to "Skyshield". According to the FPÖ, this list is a mix of self-evident matters and things that have already been constructively and extensively discussed in a specially established consensus/dissent group since the beginning of the negotiations. In addition, there are some points that need to be discussed at the level of the chief negotiators, with the ÖVP refusing exactly this discussion because they want the issue of departments to be finally clarified first. Vorarlberg's Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP), on the other hand, saw FPÖ leader Kickl "caught in a power frenzy" instead of making viable content and competence compromises: "If he insists on these positions, no state can be made with him," Wallner stated in a broadcast. A Federal Chancellor must demonstrate dialogue skills, act statesmanlike, and cooperate with all responsible parties - on equal footing, with respect, and a clear pro-European stance. However, Kickl remains in opposition mode.

FPÖ State Politicians Advocate for "Civic Cooperation"

In response, the FPÖ mobilized its own state politicians. Upper Austria's Deputy Governor Manfred Haimbuchner saw the FPÖ's proposals as an "expression of civic cooperation". The FPÖ is ready to work with the ÖVP "with this honest distribution of departments" for our country. Burgenland's FPÖ club chairman Norbert Hofer also stepped up to support the federal party. He thanked Kickl for his "foresight" in the offer to the ÖVP. Because governing honestly also means making a fair offer. Civic cooperation and honest distribution of core competencies is what Austria's location, the economy, and the population need now.

Styria's FPÖ Governor Mario Kunasek sees it similarly: On the sidelines of a press conference on Wednesday, he emphasized that the FPÖ's offer regarding the distribution of ministries according to the core competencies of the two parties is, in his view, "very fair". The ÖVP would now even get one more ministry. That the FPÖ wants the Interior Ministry is logical. By the way, he does not want to comment on the "verbal excursions" of ÖVP leaders like Wallner. Kunasek is not in favor of an expert government: "That is a government that administers and does not set accents, but Austria needs politics." He hopes that the FPÖ and ÖVP will still come to an agreement at the federal level and form a coalition.

How things will proceed was unclear. There was no information from the presidential office on whether another visit from Kickl is planned. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen made it clear on Tuesday evening after meetings with the FPÖ leader and VP chairman Christian Stocker that he wants a quick resolution.

(APA/Red)

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