Austria: three-way coalition presents joint programme
After several failed rounds of negotiations, a coalition government with a parliamentary majority is emerging in Austria. The leaders of the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos have presented a joint programme which their party committees are expected to approve at the weekend. The right-wing populist FPÖ, which won the most votes in the election, would remain in opposition. Is this the right way to go?
The message has hit home
The Salzburger Nachrichten approves:
“What is written in the 211 pages of the coalition agreement comes quite close to the kind of rapprochement called for by the Austrian President, and which had gone out of fashion. And it is not a compromise that leaves everyone dissatisfied either. All three parties have made concessions. ... In objective terms budget consolidation may be the main focus, but emotionally and socially an effective integration and migration policy is the best way to demonstrate: we have got the message.”
Last chance
This solution makes the best of a difficult situation, Dnevnik observes:
“According to the polls, if a government coalition had failed to materialise the country would have become even more dependent on the FPÖ, whose popularity has increased since the elections. To avoid fresh elections, the parties were therefore forced to set aside their differences and reach an agreement. From their position in government they will now try to put the FPÖ's unleashed genie back into the bottle by working in the people's interest and dispelling the popular discontent. As in Germany, this is perhaps the final push by Austria's established parties to stem the rise of the far right.”
FPÖ's radicalisation will continue
Deutschlandfunk warns against complacency:
“The political manoeuvres of all parties - but especially the ÖVP - have exacerbated the already pronounced disenchantment with politics in Austria. ... The ÖVP is polling worse than ever and is now likely to appoint as chancellor Christian Stocker, who was not the party's top candidate in the election and whose legitimacy can therefore be questioned. And the FPÖ in particular is doing precisely that. The party has already begun to become more radical. It will probably drift further and further into the conspiracy milieu. And as the largest single parliamentary group in the National Council, it will know how to make the most of its instruments and the stage.”