Accusation of post haggling

Doskozil is venomous: blue-black is “pathetic”

Doskozil was sworn in by Van der Bellen on Friday.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

On Friday, Hans Peter Doskozil was granted what some top politicians still dream of: a swearing-in ceremony with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. The governor of Burgenland was not sparing in his criticism of the state of federal politics - and he is not alone in this.

This is Doskozil's fourth swearing-in ceremony in the Hofburg, his third as governor of Burgenland, as Van der Bellen noted. The Federal President also congratulated Doskozil on the election result and the "swift negotiations" with the red-green coalition.

This was not the only jab at federal politics and the deadlocked talks between the FPÖ and ÖVP. Doskozil's assessment of the situation, however, left less room for interpretation than the 81-year-old's tip. The Social Democrat stated to journalists present that the behavior of the blue-black coalition "cannot be surpassed in embarrassment".

Doskozil was sworn in by Van der Bellen on Friday.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Doskozil sees "pathetic picture"
In his view, those involved are only interested in posts. Urgent issues such as care, education or integration would take a back seat. The governor criticized the "pathetic image" both internally and externally. He could not answer whether there were now parallel negotiations between the ÖVP and SPÖ, but considered it unlikely.

Day 131

• Never before in the Second Republic has it taken longer to form a government.
• More than four months have passed since election day.
• The longest time to form a government since 1945 lasted 129 days.
• Back then (1962), the ÖVP and SPÖ reluctantly agreed to work together.
• The current process is at day 131 - a record.

Doskozil is alluding to the blue-black ministry poker of the past few days. The FPÖ and ÖVP have so far only been able to agree on the lowest common denominator. True to the mantra: It won't work the way the other party wants it! The Upper Blue Herbert Kickl wants to create a "super chancellor's office", according to black negotiating circles.

Criticism also from ÖVP veteran
Over the past few days, the talks seemed to be on the brink of collapse. The situation escalated on Tuesday when the FPÖ presented the ÖVP with a proposal for the division of portfolios, which the People's Party described as "unacceptable" because it did not correspond to the election results.

In "ZiB 2", ÖVP veteran Andreas Khol emphasized: "At the moment, the question is whether Mr Kickl will negotiate with the ÖVP on an equal footing and regard the ÖVP as an equal?" This is not about jobs and posts, but about Europe, the rule of law, credibility and democracy.

The mood had intensified once again when Kickl underpinned the blue claim to the finance and interior portfolios on Facebook on Wednesday - the ÖVP was "surprised" by this.

Khol clarified: "The Ministry of the Interior is really about control over the secret services." The Republic had had "bad experiences" with Kickl in this regard. "The People's Party will not assign the secret services to a liberal interior minister." Nevertheless, his party is under pressure to act. According to the polls, only the FPÖ would benefit from new elections ...