Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will step down as coalition talks collapse

EuroNews ^ | 1/5/25

[EBH]

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed for a second time.

The announcement came after the People's Party (ÖVP) and the Social Democrats (SPÖ) continued coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party’s surprise withdrawal from discussions.

Neos, alongside Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer's conservative Austrian People's Party and the centre-left Social Democrats have been trying to forge a three-party ruling coalition after the right-wing Freedom Party won national elections in September.

[EBH]

You know it is really kind of scary to consider all these western governments having a hard time holding themselves together.

And I do throw the United States in that 'concern troll' level too.

It feels like there is a power vacuum (of course there is after 4 years of Biden) and if the world is really without leadership the world is in peril.

Everyone on FR knows that. Power vacuums lead to dangerous times. Trump is going to need a lot of support and frankly the dang D's ...well...

[ClearCase_guy]

I don’t think “centuries”, in a historic sense, fall into neat little groups of one hundred years. I think the 20th century ran from about 1914 to about 2024 or so. It was a century of lies, corruption, communism, war, violence, and genocide. Mostly the lies and communism part.

If we can get a political class in place that tells the truth and which works against a self-enriching Ruling Class and which wants government to be smaller (because government is always the problem and never the solution) then the 21st century might turn into a good time.

There is potential. But my natural tendency toward optimism is perhaps not as strong as it once was. But the collapse of western governments has got to be a good thing.

[Twotone]

I agree that there’s a case for optimism with all of this. The ‘freedom parties’ are getting a good toe-hold in many places, & the problems caused by the migrants are coming front & center, forcing gov’ts to address their stupidity. Leftists are now on the back foot, although still dangerous & capable of causing more problems.

[EBH]

We have Trump and Vance,

and leaders are flocking to Maralago nearly weekly.

The question is are they like Trump or are they sniveling cowards.

Because things are going to get pretty messy...everywhere.

[bert]

My fear is that I will live my life without tasting a Sacher Tort

[ClearCase_guy]

Definitely still dangerous.

But I do think the game has changed. For a long time the Left was (in my view) dangerous because they had bad ideas — “if we eat the rich, and allow Proletariat Workers Councils to make all of the tiny economic decisions from a central committee, the world will be better. Trust us.” This was bad thinking, but people bought it for a long time, and it did a lot of damage.

Today, I really don’t think anyone buys it. But the Left plays a new game — “We control the intelligence agencies. We have six ways from Sunday to screw you over. We want all the power and if you get in our way, we will crush you.”

As soon as people catch on to the real game played by Clinton, Obama, Biden, Soros and the rest, then forceful change becomes really possible. Their techno-feudalism doesn’t appeal to the peasants.

[BobL]

I haven’t followed too closely here, but my understanding is that the Freedom Party (the party opposed to re-population, grooming, and the Ukraine War) won the most votes (back in September), but the other parties are all Globalist, so they won’t work with Freedom. This article, I think, is saying that the Globalists, alone, are unable to form a governing majority and thus the country will have new elections, with Freedom being in an even stronger position.

Bottom line, from what I can tell, is that this is good news for the MAGA types over there.

[Twotone]

I just watched a James Lindsay video on Social Emotional Learning. You’re right that we “peasants” don’t want what they’re selling. Which is why they’re in our schools trying to train up “the new man” to need what they’re literally selling.

Here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08v5C5DvR14

I’ll check to see if it’s been posted. If not, I’ll set up a separate thread. 2 hours, but astounding as to what the Left has been up to.

[Redmen4ever]

Austria is a proportional representation democracy. This form of democracy has its own strengths and weaknesses relative to other forms.

A strength is that governments are usually formed by coalitions of similar parties that dicker with each other for a common manifesto (or, agenda), after the election is held.

A weakness is that a government might not be formed because parties totaling a majority cannot resolve their differences to form a coalition.

(These are two sides of the same coin.)

Sometimes compromise is inhibited by strategic or emotional elements. The established center-right party (the Peoples Party) might feel threatened by the upstart populist-conservative party (the Freedom Party).

And, sometimes compromise is inhibited by a wide gap in positions, e.g., the Social Democrats want tax increases and the Peoples Party oppose tax increases.

To me, an outsider, it seems as though the Peoples Party and the Freedom Party should work out their differences. I would say the same thing about Germany, where the established Christian Democrats have so far refused to work with the upstart Alternative Party.

Two current examples show center-right conservatives can work with populist-right conservatives: (1) Italy, with Georgia Meloni leading a three-party coalition, and (2) Netherlands, where Geert Wilder’s Freedom Party is part of a four-party coalition, with an independent as prime minister.

[Captain Walker]

If we can get a political class in place that tells the truth and which works against a self-enriching Ruling Class and which wants government to be smaller (because government is always the problem and never the solution) then the 21st century might turn into a good time.

I suspect it's cyclical.

The "greatest generation" remembered to say their prayers at night because of their experiences in the Great Depression and the Second World War; their kids, not so much.

But if the global economy built on American Funnymoney should crap the bed, their posterity will certainly learn the lesson.

[mac_truck]

I’m less concerned about ‘stability’ of leftist European governments then I am about the fact that they conspire to prevent the rise of the conservative populist ones.

In this case it was Austria’s Freedom Party which won the election and is being shut out.

[EBH]

Almost sounds like you are quoting Atlas Shrugged.

[aquila48]

I actually had Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel!

[bert]

Was it as good as they say?

I am now only one step away...... probably as close as I will ever be

[aquila48]

“A weakness is that a government might not be formed because parties totaling a majority cannot resolve their differences to form a coalition.”

A much bigger weakness is that because the coalition is formed AFTER the vote is cast people don’t really know when they vote what they’re voting FOR or what they’re going to get.

In our system of winner take all, it always comes down to two parties dominating. So the coalition (and policies) among the various points of view within a party happens before the vote and so the voters have a clearer idea of who and what they-re voting for.

Also in a parliamentary type of government, the head of the executive (prime minister) is chosen by the legislative branch so the executive and legislative branches are always of the same party. For us it would be like always having congress and the president from the same party.

That may be good for the majority to ram through what it wants, but there is no check and balances to control extreme positions, which tends to create wild swings in policies if and when power switches hand.

I prefer our system. I think it leads to a more moderate, stable and less onerous government.

But the biggest difference between our government and theirs is the bill of rights, which forbids government from enacting any laws that would curtail those rights.

[Jim Noble]

MAGA = Make Austria Great Again?

Return Galicia and Volhynia to neutral Austria. Problem solved.

[Redmen4ever]

Our system has its own strengths and weaknesses.

I would say our most glaring weakness is that most of our states and almost all of our large cities are “one-party democracies.”

That is, our two-party system is competitive at the federal level but not really at many state and local levels.

It’s really not good that many of our once great cities are becoming hell-holes, and yet there is no realistic chance for the Democrats to be dislodged.

In other countries, they have competition in cities.

[aquila48]

“Our system has its own strengths and weaknesses.”

Well of course, but considering all the plusses and minuses of the two systems, I prefer ours. How about you?

Also I failed to mention another weakness, which is, the system of proportional representation can be quite unstable. Governments can be easily toppled if one of the coalition partner decides to bolt, as is the case for Austria now. Few make it to their full term.