FPÖ excluded from Austrian government despite election win

The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), despite winning the elections in the country, has been excluded from the government.

After a five-month stalemate, the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), the center-left Social Democrats, and the liberal Neos reached a three-party coalition agreement on Thursday, marking the first time in Austrian history such a coalition has been formed.

Christian Stocker, the leader of the conservatives, will become chancellor, while Andreas Babler, the leader of the Social Democrats, will serve as vice-chancellor.

Herbert Kickl, the leader of the FPÖ, described this agreement—dubbed a “firewall against the far right,” similar to that in neighboring Germany—as a “coalition of losers” and called for early elections.

The FPÖ emerged as the leading party in the September elections with 28.9% of the vote but did not win enough seats in parliament to form a government.

After all other major parties refused to work with the FPÖ, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen initially asked the then-conservative leader and incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer to attempt to form a government.

Following the collapse of this effort in January, the President tasked the FPÖ with forming a coalition, as the “firewall” was not as firmly established in Austria as it is in Germany.

Having governed Austria twice in the past, the FPÖ failed to form a government with the conservatives in the country due to disagreements over Russia.

After the FPÖ’s attempts collapsed in January, the mainstream parties once again attempted to form a coalition.

The newly reached agreement is being referred to as the “sugar coalition” because the parties’ colors resemble jelly beans.

The alliance is likely cumbersome and born out of desperation to avoid new elections, which the FPÖ would likely win by an even more decisive margin than in September, as polls indicate support for the party has risen to 34%.

In a statement on Thursday, Kickl said, “Today is not the end, I will be back, no doubt about it.”

Austria is seen as a pioneer of cooperation between conservatives and the far right in German-speaking countries, as the FPÖ first joined a joint government with the conservatives in 2000.

The party once again entered the government under the conservatives in 2017.