The alternatives

Why new elections are not so easy to implement

The ÖVP and SPÖ have no interest in a new election.(Bild: Parlamentsdirektion/Ulrike Wieser)

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl may have made a huge gamble. He has reckoned with new elections if the blue-black coalition fails. But he cannot decide that. The Federal President has waved goodbye for the time being. But who in parliament would even go along with this? And what are the alternatives? There are four to five theoretical scenarios for the way forward ...

The idea of a new election does not have many friends politically. The ÖVP and SPÖ, for example, are not in a position to hold new elections, either in terms of personnel or finances - they are both heavily in debt. As many party grandees have stated, neither party is interested in new elections.