When excited Austrian far-right supporters celebrated their party’s historic victory in Sunday’s national elections with beer, they knew forming a government would not be easy.
“It’s a real success… (but) I predict that no matter who forms a government, we will definitely not have a government before Christmas,” Eric Berglund, a 35-year-old waiter, told AFP.
Led by hawkish Herbert Kickl, the far-right Freedom Party (FPOE) was expected to defeat the ruling conservatives by a slim margin in 2021, but Sunday’s results – the party got almost 29 percent – were also slightly better than expected.
Like other party supporters surrounding him in traditional Austrian attire, Berglund credited Kickl as “the most capable leader”.
But he said it would now be up to other parties to decide whether the FPOE chief could become chancellor.
“This will definitely be a very exciting time,” he said, as electric blue light – the FPOE color – illuminated the restaurant in downtown Vienna where the party was being celebrated.
‘mountain climber’
Chancellor Karl Nehmer, whose conservatives came second in the election, has already said he will not form a coalition government with Kickl. Other party leaders have also rejected him.
“I’m a climber, but the bag I was given is not light,” the sporty Kickle told his cheering supporters.
As supporters watched voting night on private television rather than public broadcaster ORF, which the FPOE has accused of being biased, they booed whenever representatives of other parties appeared on the screen.
Hilmar Kabas, a member of the FPOE since the 1960s, said that the “weakness” of other parties was the main factor that propelled the far right to victory.
But supporters wearing “Team Kickle” parkas also cite other reasons, such as too many applications from asylum seekers, a declining economy and a high cost of living that have given far-right parties an edge across Europe. .
But if no one is willing to form a coalition under Kikal, it is better to remain in the opposition, Qabas said.
“It is not other parties who make decisions for us,” he said.
‘Lighthouse in our night’
A dressed-up activist from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was also among the crowd, who had come especially from the neighboring German state of Bavaria to celebrate with his “friends”.
“Germany is looking towards Vienna tonight,” he said, declining to give his name.
With him, he brought a gift for Kikal: a small blue lighthouse with his name engraved on it because “he is a lighthouse in our night”.
Outgoing MP Petra Steiger said President Alexander Van der Bellen should now give Kikal the mandate to form a government “while respecting the voters”.
“That’s how it works in a democracy,” he said.
After expressing reservations about Kickal a few months earlier, Van der Bellen promised after the results were announced that he would ensure a government was formed that respected “the foundations of our liberal democracy”.
A short distance from the FPOE festival, in front of the parliament, a few hundred people gathered to say “no to Kikal”, the leader of the party formed by former Nazis.
“Drive out the Nazis”, they chanted.
“Unfortunately, it was to be expected that FPOE would take the lead, but it’s (coming to this result) quite sad, because somehow we haven’t learned anything from history,” said student Juliana Hoffman, 19. Told AFP.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
