ÖVP and SPÖ will resume exploratory talks on Monday. In the morning there will be a three-way conversation for the first time between party leaders Karl Nehammer, Andreas Babler and Beate Meinl-Reisinger. The large group then meets in the afternoon. It is decided whether you try with a third partner or with the minimum majority with two people.
The budget deficit is increasingly becoming the main topic of negotiations. The ‘true extent of the problem’ is not yet known. There is a deficit of approximately 16 billion euros. This means a saving of approximately four billion euros per year in the coming legislature! “It’s cruel,” says an insider.
The chances of a candy coalition consisting of ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS are certainly intact. The biggest problems are and remain the disastrous finances and the weakening economy. “We will need economic stimulus and at the same time there will be a need for savings.” How did it come to this? The answer is simple: the ÖVP and the Greens have taken many measures without counter-financing, from lowering corporate taxes to abolishing the cold progression to various subsidies.
There is also talk of a two-party coalition with the smallest possible majority of 92 mandates. But that would be “extremely time-consuming,” a representative said. ÖVP and SPÖ should tremble at every vote. The biggest advantage from the negotiators’ point of view: a two-thirds majority is possible without the FPÖ. This is often necessary for energy laws.
“Now it will be a matter of drawing the broad strokes.”
Speculation about the division of departments is clearly premature. Although these questions always come up during government negotiations, many issues will only be decided at the last minute. That is why many in the ÖVP and SPÖ are surprised and at the same time angry that the NEOS is already publicly calling for the Ministry of Finance.
“This is not the time to discuss potential government positions, but rather the content, reforms and projects that will move Austria and its people forward. I assume the NEOS see it the same way,” ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker told the Pinks. In any negotiations, it has “never proven useful to make demands in advance through the media,” according to the ÖVP.
Defense for the SPÖ?
A well-informed actor considers the latest rumors that the ÖVP could transfer the Ministry of the Interior to the SPÖ in order to keep the economy and finances ‘not mega-realistic’. It is much more likely that the SPÖ will get the Ministry of Defense. The Tyrolean SP leader Georg Dornauer is said to have volunteered for this.
The SPÖ will almost certainly demand social issues, work and infrastructure. It will be exciting to see whether the ÖVP will take over the Ministry of Justice after having suffered a real trauma there following numerous investigations and procedures since Turquoise-Blue 2017. Karoline Edtstadler is in any case the logical candidate for this.
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.
