Walter Rosenkranz is the first to be elected from the ranks of the Freedom Party to one of the highest public law positions in the country.
According to Austrian tradition, the Speaker of Parliament is always chosen from among the representatives of the strongest party.
Rosenkranz is a law graduate He previously led the parliamentary faction of the FPÖHe was a member of the Austrian Ombudsman, and in the 2022 Austrian presidential election he won 19 percent of the vote as a candidate for the Freedom Party of Austria.
Only 100 out of 183 deputies voted for it in the opening session of the Austrian Parliament on Thursday. – Even though it was the only candidate that was officially launched.
Before voting Oscar the GermanThe head of the Vienna Jewish community expressed his indignation in an open letter to members of parliament over the nomination of Rosenkranz, whom he described as a representative of the “revisionist camp that praises Nazi criminals.” Other Jewish organizations also protested.
Although the representatives acted in accordance with Austrian tradition by electing Rosenkranz,
The probability that the Freedom Party will become part of the next Austrian government coalition remains low.
Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 29 September, during which the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) won for the first time with 29 percent of the vote. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) fell back to third place, and the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) had one of its weakest electoral results.
Alexander van der Bellen Head of State of Austria, Chairman of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), Karl Nehammer He appointed an incumbent chancellor to form the government, ignoring the Austrian tradition of always appointing the winner of the election to form the government. The head of state justified the departure from tradition by saying that no one wanted to enter into a coalition with the Freedom Party.
The Austrian People's Party is scheduled to begin coalition negotiations with the SPÖ on Friday.
Cover photo: Walter Rosenkranz, representative of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), newly elected president of the Austrian Parliament, speaks in parliament after his election in Vienna on October 24, 2024. MTI/EPA/Max Slovencik
