A grand coalition for Austria

After three months of negotiations, Austria is to get a grand coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) with the People's Party (ÖVP). SPÖ head Alfred Gusenbauer will be the chancellor - and a weak one, believes Michael Völker. "The ÖVP lost the elections and won the negotiations... By the time it took control of the administration, SPÖ already had broken nearly all the promises and announcements made during the election campaign. Admittedly, those election promises were greatly exaggerated, because of the apparently hopeless starting position, and they never really seemed possible. But that practically none of this found its way into the joint government programme is a serious handicap. ... Gusenbauer is starting his chancellorship with the heavy burden of broken election promises, with a practically laughable list of ministers and a government programme that is a particularly hard sell to SPÖ supporters."

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