Ibiza, deselection and Co. – Five turbulent years in the alternative parliament quarters

The National Council met for the last time in the alternate chambers of Parliament on Thursday. Over the past five years, domestic politics in the Hofburg have been more than turbulent. For the first time a government was deposed by the National Council, Austria had its first female chancellor, a meeting of the National Council was held on a Sunday for the first time and the Greens took their seats on the government bench for the first time.

Alternative accommodation since 2017
Since the autumn of 2017, the Hofburg has served as an alternative accommodation for parliament during the renovation of the old building on the Ring, which was already very dilapidated. The first National Council meeting in the Redoutensaal in the Hofburg took place on September 20, 2017. The first National Council election immediately afterwards, on October 15, 2017, brought something new. The ÖVP under Sebastian Kurz emerged as the strongest party, the Greens were kicked out of parliament and the list of ex-Greens Peter Pilz entered parliament.

Some parliamentary highlights
This was followed by the turquoise-blue Kurz-Kabinett I, which was shipwrecked in May 2019 with the Ibiza scandal. However, there were some parliamentary highlights during Turquoise Blue’s short reign. One of them was the debate on the lifting of the absolute ban on smoking in the catering industry in February 2018. Then NEOS club boss Matthias Strolz gave free rein to his indignation: “Madam Minister of Health, what about you? You are responsible for your health.” In contrast, in March 2019, FPÖ mandatary Wolfgang Zanger used obscenity to refer to works councils as “Beidl” in a speech.

The breakup of the government in 2019 gave parliament the first official government and the first female head of government. Former constitutional judge Brigitte Bierlein led a government of civil servants from June 3, 2019 to January 7, 2020.

Eco-Party took place on the government bench
After the elections for the National Council in 2019, things continued happily. This time Pilz had to make way for the Greens in parliament. Many Green Party MPs who had meanwhile gone to Pilz returned. And the eco-party took its place not only in the ranks of deputies, but also on the government bench. The turquoise-green Kurz-Kabinett II sees the light of day and it was not a silent world.

Just three months after taking office, the new government and parliament were confronted with the corona pandemic. The alternative wards experienced the first session of the National Council on a Sunday and a series of special sessions.

Corona peak in 2020
An absolute corona highlight in 2020 were meetings in which the MPs were spread throughout the Redoutensaal to keep their distance and also took a seat in the stands and in adjacent rooms.

The parliament building will open on January 12
The old parliament building on the Ring, which now shines in new splendour, will be officially opened on 12 January 2023. Next week, the Bundesrat will meet again in the Hofburg, after which the temporary shelters will close their doors permanently. As of 2017, about 300 National Council meetings, one tenth of which are special meetings, and more than 1,000 committee meetings, 300 of which are U committee meetings, have taken place there.