Austria has a new chancellor and a government in working order since this week and it is the end of an unprecedented political crisis for the small Alpine country. After five months of negotiations and blocking, it was a deputy almost unknown to the general public who was appointed Chancellor. Christian Stocker will have the tough task of conducting the tripartite coalition formed by the Conservatives, the Socialists and the Liberals. With an ambition: keeping power from power an extreme Austrian right in full ascent.
It all starts with the September legislative elections in Austria And the historical result of the FPö party (extreme-right) which arrives in first position with 29% of the votes. To block the road to him, the conservatives of the ÖVP try to set up a coalition with the socialists and the liberals … without achieving it. After four months of negotiations, and in despair, the conservatives turn to Christian Stocker who is then the secretary general of the ÖVP. This 64 -year -old former lawyer is a discreet politician, of which very few people had previously heard.
“” He started his career at the national level quite late since he was elected deputy for the first time in 2019 “Recalls Andreas Eisl, researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute. “” Before that, he had a career as a lawyer, with in parallel political work essentially at the local level. »Deputy mayor of Wiener Neustadt, a small Austrian town of around 40,000 inhabitants, Christian Stocker has no government experience, and does not shine either by his charisma or his talent as a speaker. Its only peculiarity is to appreciate line fishing and saxophone. “” If we compare him with characters like the conservative Sebastian Kurz who was Chancellor from 2017 to 2021, he does not really seem to be charismatic », Pointe Andreas Eisl. “” I think that at the beginning it was not really planned that he became chancellor. »»
Chancellor “by default”
He himself was the first surprised to find himself in this position. Christian Stocker also tells that in January, when he learns that he will direct the negotiations to try to become Chancellor, he is in Vienna in jeans and in a sweater and that he must therefore ask in disaster that we bring him a costume and a tie! The former lawyer is a default candidate, ” a wisdom “Can we read in the Austrian press. At first, he surprises and even aroused indignation by trying to negotiate with the extreme right. These talks do not succeed, but he then manages to agree the socialists and the liberals and succeeds where the outgoing chancellor, Karl Nehammer, had failed miserably.
His talents as a negotiator and his sense of compromise have undoubtedly played a role, but Christian Stocker also largely benefited from the context and in particular the international context. “” First, it was not possible that he failed again “, Deciphers Jérôme Segal, Franco-Austrian teacher and researcher. “” The country has been in crisis for 154 days. There was no government, it was just management of current affairs. And international events with Trump’s first decisions and the Ukraine war really made a government to be appointed. »»
Read tooAustria: Three parties announce a pro-European government and without the extreme right
The extreme right in ambush
Christian Stocker therefore reaches a compromise with the socialists and the liberals of the Neos party, each obtaining concessions allowing to overcome their initial differences. The conservatives garner strong measures on immigration – with the suspension of family reunification, the socialists obtain the caps of rents, and the Liberals an increase in retirement contributions. The challenge for the new Chancellor will be to keep this “three marriage to three”, this tripartite coalition which has never had a precedent in Austria. “” This coalition will necessarily benefit from a state of grace for the few weeks or months and I think that the Austrians will want to judge on piece “Consulates Jérôme Segal. “” But in ambush is already the FPö: they obtained 29% in September and the current surveys show that they continue to go up and that they are already above 30%. So there will be no gifts made by the extreme right in the face of this coalition government. »»
The Austrian far right already claims, moreover, early elections, denounces a ” losers government And says he is ready to return to the polls as soon as possible. The FPö is betting for this on budgetary issues, a major challenge that will ask the new Chancellor. Because, to continue to governing, Christian Store will have to bring back to European nails a deficit that borders on 4% of GDP. And this promises to be all the more perilous than Austria, like Germany, is currently going through a period of recession. With its economy turned towards export, the Alpine country can be concerned about the risk of trade war brought by the new American president. In the meantime, the Austrian extreme right carried out by the polls hopes to take over next April from the town hall of Vienna … A town hall traditionally held by the socialists, but which seems within the reach of the far -right party.