Election in Carinthia
22 votes: Daniel Fellner is the new governor
On Tuesday, the Carinthian state parliament elected a new governor: Daniel Fellner succeeds Peter Kaiser. Prior to the vote, a debate took place during the current affairs session regarding a direct election for the state’s leader.
A long-awaited “generational change” took place in Carinthia on Tuesday: After Peter Kaiser, governor since 2013, retired on March 31 and his deputy, Gaby Schaunig, steered the province’s affairs over Easter, a new governor was elected on Tuesday in the Carinthian state parliament: Daniel Fellner (all SPÖ), who had already assumed the office of SPÖ state party leader in the fall.
With 22 of 34 votes cast, the Carinthian state parliament members elected Fellner as the new governor. All 34 votes cast were valid. Two of the 36 state parliament members were absent on Tuesday due to illness. Fellner needed 18 votes—he received all the votes from the SPÖ-ÖVP coalition as well as one vote from an opposition party. Ralph Sternjak was elected as his alternate—he received 24 votes. Fellner and Sternjak were sworn in under the state constitution, after which the new governor took his seat on the government bench.
Officially, however, this will not take effect until Wednesday, following the swearing-in ceremony by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna. Fellner’s family—his wife and their three sons, as well as his parents—will be in attendance.
On Tuesday, as previously reported in the “Krone,” there were further personnel changes: The third State Parliament President, Marika Lagger-Pöllinger (also SPÖ), is joining the government at Arnulfplatz as a new State Councilor—she resigned from her position as mayor of Lendorf on Easter Monday. Of the 33 valid votes cast, 22 went to Lagger-Pöllinger. Ruth Feistritzer was elected as her alternate with 21 votes. Christina Patterer-Burgstaller, the wife of the new SPÖ club chairman Luca Burgstaller, will take her place as a member of the state parliament. The new third president of the state parliament will be SPÖ representative Günter Leikam—he was elected with 26 of 34 valid votes.
Political Discussion Ahead of the Governor’s Election
Since, according to First State Parliament President Andreas Scherwitzl, this was a “proper session of the State Parliament,” there was also a current affairs debate: At the suggestion of the opposition party Team Kärnten, the debate centered on the topic “Strengthening Direct Democracy in Carinthia.”
Team Kärnten leader Gerhard Köfer reiterated right at the start his own demand and that of the FPÖ to elect the governor directly: “Today, someone—and I’m not talking about the person; Daniel Fellner has my respect and esteem—is being elected governor who was not elected by anyone.”
He called for “less power for the parties, more influence for the voters” and emphasized his “clear yes to a future direct election of the governor.”
Direct election would “weaken democracy”
Burgstaller was skeptical: Changes to both the state and federal constitutions would be necessary. Malle accused the opposition of seeking their own political advantage with this demand. Scherwitzl is “categorically opposed” to directly electing provincial governors: “Not even the U.S. president is directly elected; electors choose him.” A direct election of the provincial governor would mean “a significant weakening of the legislatures, a significant weakening of democracy.”
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