Alexander Van der Bellen will be sworn in as Federal President for the second time by the Austrian Federal Assembly, the combined body of the National and Federal Councils, on Thursday, six years after his first freestyle. Van der Bellen had kept his distance from Herbert Kickl the day before. The FP leader cannot be certain that if he wins the elections - the FP is now leading in all surveys - he would be assigned the duty of building a government.
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| Austrian President Van der Bellen |
He would not "attempt to create an anti-European party, a party that does not denounce Russia's war on Ukraine, by my measures," Van der Bellen said on the ORF program "20 questions" on Wednesday evening. He not only swears an oath of office to the constitution, but also to his conscience.
The Federal President of Austria passed on the question of whether that meant that he would not automatically entrust Kickl with the formation of a government, even if the FPÖ came first in the National Council elections – with the words that Kickl should be asked and not him, “whether it’s right was to carry out a raid against his own house, against the Ministry of the Interior, which led to nothing, except that the foreign intelligence services lost all trust in Austria and and and. Ask him, not me."
The constitution, strictly speaking, does not require that the party with the most votes form a government. However, the Federal President picks the chancellor - in his "personal discretion" - from inside. He doesn't require a plan for that, it's "one of the very, very few areas on which the Federal President is free to make his choice".
"Yes, yes, that's what the conversation logs revealed," Van der Bellen answered when asked if Austria had a corruption problem. He called for a "change of mindset" as well as legislative actions, praising the coalition accord to bridge the criminal law gap.
The "friendship economy" that has become visible in the chat logs - "as we so euphemistically call it in Austria" - must "really stop, that's a poison".
Before the election, the administration should debate what can still be done from the anti-corruption referendum. Van der Bellen said that he should have connected with "those chat tales" more. "Not totally incorrectly, the notion that I was holding myself back too much" existed.
It also concerned the connection between the Federal President and the heads of state. With ÖVP ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz - who was "renowned, some say notorious for his attempts at message control" - he had had some disputes, but "you shouldn't be sensitive, that's part of politics". He had "established a very excellent working relationship over time" with incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer (VP).
Van der Bellen was enthusiastic about the VP-Green coalition's efforts to mitigate the effects of the crisis. The administration was "not idle" there, which is why the disasters predicted at the start of the Ukraine conflict - a shortage of gas and power, inability to heat, and so on - did not occur. However, communication of the multiple efforts used to buffer the effects of inflation proved unsuccessful.
Van der Bellen was moved by the climate catastrophe. He not only passionately advocated for faster countermeasures, but he also harshly criticized individuals who label activists "terrorists" - without mentioning the FP. Doing this is "tastelessness of the first order" since "these folks use adhesive, a terrorist uses explosives". Van der Bellen also strongly rejected the governor Johanna Mikl-(VP) Leitner's desire for harsher fines for roadblocks in the run-up to the Lower Austrian state elections, saying, "I think that's totally overshooting the point." He thought 100 km/h was "very normal" on the highway.
Swearing ceremony of Austrian President Van der Bellen
Around 1,000 people have been invited to the ancient chamber of parliament on Thursday to witness van der Bellen's inauguration. The Federal President will also address the guests for 20 minutes. Following him are President of the National Council Wolfgang Sobotka (VP) and Chairman of the Federal Council Günter Kovacs (SP).
Following the legislative session, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces will be honored with a flag march and a memorial service at Heldenplatz. The festivities will continue with a banquet in Van der Bellen's native Tyrol.
Source: ORF Austria