Counting all postal votes no longer led to shifts in the mandate. Turquoise Red would now have a majority of 92 seats, but that is not enough to govern. If the FPÖ-ÖVP does not come, a turquoise-red-pink “candy” is needed.
The final result of the National Council elections will be available after all postal votes have been counted. The ÖVP and SPÖ together have exactly 92 mandates. That is a majority, but not enough for a stable coalition.
Governing with a mandate overhang is virtually impossible. This means that the turquoise option in coalition poker is not realistic. Josef Cap, former SPÖ club president, says it clearly in the “Krone”: “That is unthinkable. You can be blackmailed by any MP.” Moreover, illness and other absences would also destroy a majority in parliament.
At least three or four mandates are needed. A vote in the Federal Council last year shows what can happen if the government has too small a majority.
Federal councilor had to rush from rehab to parliament
The ORF law was voted on there in July 2023. Two representatives of the turquoise-green coalition (31 seats) were unable to attend, one turquoise was in labor, one green was in rehab. It was hoped that the vote would still go ahead with a mandate overhang, as the FPÖ wrongly claimed that one of its MPs would not attend, which was not true. Suddenly turquoise-green no longer had a majority, it was 29:29.
The Green, Adi Gross, had to rush to parliament from the rehabilitation center in Lower Austria. Turquoise and Green representatives had to “filibuster” (give long speeches) to postpone the vote, Gross said in an interview with the “Krone”. “It took me three hours to get to parliament.”
It is not only such failures that pose a problem for a narrow majority. It happens time and again that individual MPs reject certain projects that go against the party line. If the government majority is not sufficiently secured, each individual MP can ‘blackmail’ his own party with his vote.
ÖVP and SPÖ need the “sweetener”.
The last postal votes were counted on Thursday evening. This concerned approximately 15 percent of all postal voting cards, or tens of thousands of votes. The count took longer than expected and did not result in the expected shift of a mandate from the FPÖ to the ÖVP.
Turquoise and Red together have only 92 seats. That is a majority that can only be achieved with one vote. In reality, a turquoise-red coalition variant is only theoretically possible. One would not take this risk. If the People’s Party and the Social Democrats want to govern, they need the NEOS or the Greens for a “candy coalition”.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
