Candy negotiations – referendum: Will old plans be unpacked?

As is known, there are great divisions within the Zuckerl coalition. To ensure that there are no paralyzing endless ideological debates between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS in the next legislature, a way out is being discussed during the negotiating rounds – and that could, as the ‘Krone’ reported, be called a referendum . The people should be able to vote on controversial issues such as school districts or property taxes. This idea has some supporters among interest groups in the SPÖ and the ÖVP, who, according to the NEOS negotiators, are slightly less enthusiastic about the use of this democratic instrument.

Kurz and Strache agreed on a democracy package
One party that did not want to comment on the plans, but has been lobbying for a more direct democracy for years, is the Blues. As a reminder, in 2017 the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition agreed to facilitate referendums, which should be decided in 2022. The Ibiza video caused the coalition to fall apart in 2019 and threw a spanner in the works. During the turquoise blue coalition negotiations it was agreed that 900,000 signatures for a referendum would lead to a binding referendum.

“Expanding citizen participation beyond voting on election day can strengthen trust in politics,” says ÖVP veteran Herwig Hösele.

24 referendums this year
This year, 24 referenda were attempted to get the required 100,000 expressions of support for discussion in the National Council. The most successful referendums were against the conference center in 1982 with over 1,360,000 signatures and the referendum on genetic engineering in 1997 with over 1,225,000 signatures.