Chancellor’s claim: “Third Republic”: FPÖ boss swears by the party on upheaval

FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl has reaffirmed his goal of upheaval in Austria on the occasion of his re-election as party leader. “Not the system will do us, we will break this wrong system,” said the right opposition politician at the Federal Party Congress in Salzburg. The head of the strongest party in Austria spoke of the goal of a “third republic”.

Kickl (56) was confirmed with 96.9 percent of the delegate votes at the head of the party. In Salzburg, he confirmed his claim to become Chancellor and to redesign Austria. Kickl described, among other things, an “asylum stop”, a prohibition law against political Islam and an expansion of direct democracy as the building blocks of a future “third republic”.

In Austria, the current state order is called the second republic (the first Republic is the period from 1919 to 1934). With the use of the term “Third Republic” Kickl takes up a concept by Jörg Haider (1950-2008), which he had propagated as FPÖ chief from 1986 to 2000.

FPÖ in opinion polls in front

In current opinion polls, the FPÖ is around 35 percent at the top. That is significantly more than the almost 29 percent with which the rights had won the parliamentary election a year ago. After the election, however, the conservative ÖVP, the Social Democratic SPÖ and the liberal Neos formed a triple coalition.