“High House” on the Greens’ strategy after election losses

Rebekka Salzer will present the following articles in the ORF parliamentary magazine “Hohes Haus” on Sunday, December 1, 2024, at 12 p.m. on ORF 2 and on ORF ON:

Green strategy

The Greens were halved in the Styrian state election and also lost 40 percent of their votes in the National Council election two months ago. The party in government no longer plays a role in the negotiations for a new government and party chairman Werner Kogler wants to resign from office. The main Green issue “climate change” has fallen behind “price inflation and economic uncertainty” and “war in Europe”. The Greens have arrived on the hard opposition ground. Claus Bruckmann knows more.

The managing director of the Green Party, Sigrid Maurer, is a guest in the studio.

Intermediate phase

The ÖVP and the Greens together lost almost a third of their mandates and thus the majority in the National Council in the National Council elections at the end of September. However, as long as there is no new government, they will continue to act as an interim federal government. The majority of those still in government now have dual functions, many also sit in the National Council. Karl Nehammer is currently not only Federal Chancellor, member of the National Council and club chairman of the ÖVP – he was even the representative of the Federal President for a while. This has little to do with separation of powers. Susanne Däubel spoke about this practice with former Federal President Heinz Fischer during the formation of a new government.

Green light

On December 1st, the new European Commission under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will begin its work. The path to get there was not easy; disputes and blockages almost put a stop to the Commission President’s plans. There were repeated demonstrations of power at the hearings for the new commissioners, but in the end the European Parliament was able to reach a compromise. Caroline Picker looked at how this came about.