New government in Austria: The accidental chancellor and his unloved partner

Neue Zürcher Zeitung Germany New government in Austria: The accidental chancellor and his unloved partner Meret Baumann, Vienna • 17 hours • 5 minutes reading time When Christian Stocker drove to Vienna on January 5th for his party's crisis meetings, he did not expect to have to appear before the media himself. He was therefore casually dressed, as it was Sunday and Austria was still in the middle of the holidays anyway. When he was designated the new ÖVP leader a few hours later, a driver had to fetch a suit for Stocker. The promotion came so unexpectedly that even his wife found out about it from the media. "Terrible," she is said to have said when he called. The reaction is understandable, as the conservatives were in a shambles that day. Two days earlier, negotiations for a three-party coalition with the Social Democrats and the Liberals had collapsed, and less than 48 hours later, talks with the SPÖ alone had also collapsed. The ÖVP leader and Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer then resigned because he had ruled out a government with the election winner, the FPÖ. But this now seemed to be the only logical consequence. From provincial politics to the EU summit Declaring this 180-degree turn and becoming Vice Chancellor of the FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl was not a particularly attractive prospect. As a result, more prominent candidates for the party chairmanship declined in droves. Christian Stocker, who as Secretary General was already the party's highest servant by virtue of his function, did not do this. In the afternoon, he thanked everyone for being chosen as the new "chairman" in an elegant three-piece suit and tie. If he were not a man, the media would probably have called him a woman who cleared up rubble. Of all people, Christian Stocker, whose highest executive office was previously that of Vice Mayor of Wiener Neustadt, will now be sworn in as the 18th Federal Chancellor. He is the most unlikely Chancellor of the Second Republic, writes the news magazine "Profil". The classic party official from the town of 50,000 inhabitants in the Lower Austrian province will represent the country at EU summits in the future and will have a say in geopolitics. This is also remarkable because the 64-year-old lawyer had actually wanted to take a step back and did not seek office in the three-party coalition that Nehammer was still aiming for at the time. He wanted to devote more time to his hobbies, it was said, playing the saxophone and fly fishing. In the first reports of his election on that chaotic January day, he was still described as an "interim" party leader. But the ÖVP soon made it clear that Stocker was not a temporary solution. Nevertheless, one can call him an accidental chancellor without malice. The top candidate in the election in the autumn was Nehammer, and after his failure to form a coalition, FPÖ leader Kickl was considered an almost certain future head of government. The conservatives would probably have gone into any new elections with a more attractive candidate than with the sober Stocker. The fact that things turned out differently was due more to Kickl than to the ÖVP leader. As general secretary, Stocker had been at the forefront of Nehammer's election campaign strategy of demonizing Kickl. In the months before the vote, hardly a day went by when he did not sharply criticize the FPÖ leader. In the negotiations, however, it was Kickl who deliberately provoked the ÖVP with his demands. The mistrust between the two parties was noticeable, and they always used the formal form of address. In mid-February, Kickl had to inform the Federal President of his failure. It is unclear what role Stocker played in Austria being spared the self-proclaimed "People's Chancellor." In the end, both parties seemed to be aiming for a break-off. In the days before, there was unrest in the ÖVP, and as a veteran of the party, Stocker knew what he could and could not expect from the conservatives. It is unlikely that he was primarily thinking about his own path to the chancellor's office. Stocker is too modest for that. Rise of a left-wing party rebel It is clear that the negotiations with the FPÖ alone have seriously damaged the ÖVP leader's credibility after his statements about Kickl. "My reputation has suffered," Stocker himself admitted in January. In a veritable interview marathon, he explained his change of opinion, which he claims to have carried out out of responsibility for the country. Now everything is different again, and after the end of the joint attempt, Stocker again described Kickl as a threat to Austria's security. You can accuse him of lacking backbone and opportunism to maintain power. Or you can see Stocker as a loyal servant of his party, who always does what the party wants or what he thinks is best for it. As a lawyer, he is used to arguing for the respective position, and he does so coherently and thoroughly. Stocker is therefore a craftsman of power; he completely lacks the charisma of a Sebastian Kurz.