"Certainly like this"

Vienna’s ÖVP leader Mahrer against coalition with Kickl

(Bild: ORF (Screenshot))

Karl Mahrer, head of the Vienna ÖVP party, has once again rejected a coalition with the FPÖ under Herbert Kickl. He would not agree to any possible cooperation after the national elections, he said on the ORF program "Wien heute".

In an interview with ORF Vienna editor-in-chief Oliver Ortner, Mahrer once again "categorically" ruled out a coalition with the Freedom Party under Herbert Kickl. "We are against conspiracy theorists and we don't want politicians who put their political rivals on wanted lists," he said.

For him, cooperation with all parties is possible, "but not with Herbert Kickl." If a corresponding coalition pact were to be presented to him in the party executive, he would reject it and vote against it, Mahrer said. "That is certainly the case," he confirmed.

Party colleague Laura Sachslehner, who was Secretary General of the ÖVP for nine months, takes a completely different view. Asked whether she could work with FPÖ leader Kickl, she explained in an interview that the question of coalitions should not be tied to personalities.

"First there is an election, then you have to see who has the best program - regardless of personalities," explained Sachslehner, who is only 23rd on the Vienna state list, in a newspaper interview.