Austria's grand coalition disaster

Following the announcement by Austrian Defence Minister Nobert Darabos and Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (both SPÖ) that the government is reducing the number of Eurofighter aircrafts it had ordered for Austria's armed forces, Michael Völker examines the state of Austria's grand coalition between the Austrian Socialist Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and their understanding of democracy. The announcement was made without prior consultation of the coalition partners (the ÖVP) and without waiting for the results of a parliamentary inquiry into the matter. "Darabos and Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer are conducting a scorched earth policy with this approach: by not involving the ÖVP in their decision and confronting them with a fait accompli as if to say 'if you don't like it, that's just too bad', they stand little chance of gaining the ÖVP's support. For its part, the ÖVP is only too happy to see this because it diminishes the SPÖ's victory and proves that nothing works when the two parties get together... There's only one conclusion to be drawn: the ÖVP says no to this government and no to this coalition. And Gusenbauer is not in a position to lead this government. It's a disaster."

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