On Friday, ÖVP and SPÖ appointed their teams for the planned three-party coalition with the NEOS. Before that, the coalition program presented on Thursday had to receive the majority approval of each party's board, which was considered a mere formality for both parties. It will be more exciting for the NEOS, who will only make a member decision on Sunday, requiring a two-thirds majority.

Infighting Over Ministerial Posts Breaks Out in SPÖ

Regarding personnel, the SPÖ experienced intense discussions over the past few days. However, since Thursday evening, it was clear which personnel the SPÖ would bring into the government. Besides Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler, who is responsible for housing, media, culture, and sports, the largest departments will be led by the AK economist Markus Marterbauer as Finance Minister, Vienna's Finance City Councillor Peter Hanke as Infrastructure Minister, and ÖGB Women's Chairwoman Korinna Schumann as Social Minister. The Vice President of the Administrative Court Anna Sporrer will take over the Justice Ministry, SP Women's Chairwoman Eva Maria Holzleitner will become Minister for Women and Science.

Additionally, three state secretariats were filled. The former Transport Minister Jörg Leichtfried will be responsible for state security in the Interior Ministry. The health sector in the social department will be overseen by the former Lower Austrian State Councillor Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig, and the deputy chancellery will be joined by the Member of Parliament Michaela Schmidt. All those who have not yet been represented in the committees were introduced to the party board today, such as Marterbauer and Sporrer.

The personnel package presented by party leader Andreas Babler was accepted with a large majority. Only the representative of the Pensioners' Association voted against the pension part of the agreement with a protocol note, and the Socialist Youth opposed the government cooperation.

The presentation of the government team following the board meeting was rather unusual. While questions were allowed at the coalition partner ÖVP, as is customary in such cases, the SPÖ had to settle for a monologue from the party chairman. Not only that: None of the new cabinet members, apart from Babler, were scheduled to speak. Also, no questions were answered by the newcomers around the board.

A personnel decision might still be pending in the SPÖ. Federal Managing Director Sandra Breiteneder is likely to become the Chief of Staff for Vice Chancellor Babler. Whether Klaus Seltenheim will now manage the federal office alone was still unclear for the time being. In any case, he will obtain a National Council mandate through the reshuffles.

ÖVP with a Much Calmer Personnel Search

In the ÖVP, the personnel search was much calmer, which is also due to the fact that there will be no changes in the Ministry of Defense with Klaudia Tanner, the Ministry of the Interior with Gerhard Karner, and the Ministry of Agriculture with Norbert Totschnig. The Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce, Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, will become the Minister of Economy. The new Chancellor will be the acting party leader Christian Stocker. Claudia Plakolm will take over the portfolio for Family, Youth, EU, and Integration.

During the board meeting at the Political Academy of the ÖVP, the black state secretariats were also filled. The current Secretary General Alexander Pröll will become State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery. In the Ministry of Economy, oecolution CEO Elisabeth Zehetner will support Minister Hattmannsdorfer. The State Secretary in the red Ministry of Finance will be the Styrian State Councilor Barbara Eibinger-Miedl.

Stocker spoke at a press conference after the board meeting of a unanimous decision for both the government team and the government program of ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS. In total, there will be six black ministries and three state secretariats, the number of which the future Chancellor defended once again. Due to the multitude of sections, the work is easier to manage, he argued again.

(APA/Red)

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