On Saturday, coalition negotiations finally collapsed on the 97th day after the National Council elections. Five years ago it took 100 days to form a government, but an agreement on the coalition pact was announced on the 94th day.
There is currently a good chance that the previous record time between the elections and the formation of a new government will be exceeded. These were 129 days – after the elections on November 18, 1962, there was an ÖVP-SPÖ government only on March 27, 1963. The average time to swearing in was 62.4 days.
There were further long negotiations between October 1999 and February 2000 (124 days, FPÖ-ÖVP), October 2006 and January 2007 (102 days, SPÖ-ÖVP) and September 2019 and January 2020 (100 days, ÖVP-Greens). Between 1999 and 2000, talks between the ÖVP and SPÖ also failed after exactly one hundred days. The FPÖ was then brought on board.
Who negotiated the shortest time
The shortest negotiations to date lasted 23 days: In 1975, the SPÖ started with a single government led by Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. In 1945, the talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ and KPÖ were concluded after 25 days.
The previous elections in 2019 also took place on September 29 and negotiations were successfully concluded on January 1, 2020. Six days later the new government was sworn in. As the winner of the election at the time, the then ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz was given the mandate to form a government after just eight days. This time it took 23 days for Nehammer, who finished in second place.
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.
