Election Date Already in Sight

ÖVP Discusses Secret Plan: Arguments for New Elections

Chancellor Stocker has already been openly advised to resign.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/HANS KLAUS TECHT, AFP, Eva Manhart, stock.adobe.com)

Following the chaotic days in the SPÖ, the right-wing faction within the ÖVP is now growing increasingly vocal: Internally, there is already talk of an election date in late January. Chancellor Christian Stocker himself likely has little say in the matter. The pros and cons of new elections.

Andreas Babler will remain party leader until Christmas— or perhaps until Easter? A vice chancellor who won’t step down until his successor is ready: Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer, as soon as—or if— his health permits. What the SPÖ tried to sell as an “orderly handover” on Sunday is actually a slow-motion farewell—and for Austria’s first three-party coalition, a winter spent in limbo.