Austria’s coalition: deranged government with expiry date

Sebastian Kurz caused the chaos in Austria through the rampant use of power, says Clemens Verenkotte. Despite his resignation, the retired Chancellor continues to hold all the strings in hand. But the coalition is unlikely to last until 2024.

Austria’s coalition partners can go on deranged and deeply divided. The resignation of the Federal Chancellor demanded by the Greens as a prerequisite for the continuation of governmental cooperation with the People’s Party was only reluctantly accepted by Sebastian Kurz after massive pressure from within his own ranks.

The ÖVP, which has been involved in coalition governments for over 30 years, was threatened with an abrupt loss of power if Kurz insisted on remaining in office. The Greens were, and the ex-Chancellor, who was completely politically inclined to misjudge himself, otherwise determined to vote in favor of the motion of censure together with the three opposition parties at the special session in parliament on Tuesday.

Since a few days ago Kurz had demanded a written oath of loyalty from all ÖVP cabinet members, according to which the coalition could only be continued with him at the top of the government, not only Kurz but all ministers of the People’s Party would have to vote if he were to be voted out of office Have to leave government benches. At the same time, the ÖVP leadership could not rule out the possibility that under the impression of the devastating revealing insights into the “Kurz system”, which the public prosecutor suspected of being corrupt, could form a government majority without the People’s Party and thus block the way to quick new elections.

“Step aside” instead of resigning

In his resignation speech, Kurz did not speak of resignation, but of “stepping aside”. He stays on stage, holds all the strings in his hand in his future dual function as ÖVP and parliamentary group chairman, continues to sit at the cabinet table as parliamentary group leader and, even without the title of Chancellor, should have the last word on all relevant decisions on the part of the People’s Party.

Kurz spoke on Saturday evening of the chaos that would otherwise have arisen if he had not vacated the Chancellery for reasons of state. Yes, otherwise turbulent domestic political times would have dawned, which would have been characterized by instability and uncertainty. But the retired Federal Chancellor did not speak of his part in the political chaos.

Schallenberg not a competitor for short

A mess he and his self-proclaimed deeply loyal “Praetorian” troop have created through the rampant use of cynical, contemptuous, and possibly illegal methods on the road to power. With the staff castling from Kurz zu Schallenberg, the preservation of the coalition with the Greens was temporarily secured.

Sebastian Kurz does not need to fear any competition from the designated Federal Chancellor and former Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, a loyal long-term career diplomat who recently joined the ÖVP and has no even rudimentary power base. Schallenberg serves him as a binding face at the head of a suspiciously eyeing turquoise-green government, whose political expiry date is likely to have expired before the regular parliamentary elections in 2024.