Austria¶
The Austrian case shows the exclusion of a far-right party turning from a principle into a negotiating position. A centre that objects to persons and portfolios rather than to aims holds its barrier only as long as the bargaining fails. The weakness sits upstream of the courts, in the habits of the centre, and what a centre concedes in coalition talks lies beyond judicial review.
The clerk’s briefs¶
From the clerks, for the Patrician’s eyes
No need to read further for now. The far right gains standing from having been at the table, and the next talks start from the question of price rather than principle. Those its programme targets would bear what the centre concedes, and they have no seat in the negotiation. A clearer refusal by the centre, or a weaker result for the far right, would close the door again.
February 2025: The talks that failed¶
On 12 February 2025 the coalition talks between the far-right FPO, which had come first in the September 2024 election with 28.8 per cent, and the conservative OVP broke down, and Herbert Kickl returned his mandate to form a government. The OVP had framed entering the talks as a last resort. An OVP state party chairman, Karl Mahrer, said Kickl “is still a safety risk”. The talks had grown tense over policy and over which party would control which ministries. The clerks note that the objection on the record was to one man, not to his party.