Head of government of the Republic of Austria
The
chancellor of the Republic of Austria
(
German
:
Bundeskanzler der Republik Osterreich
) is the
head of government
of the
Republic of Austria
. The position corresponds to that of
Prime Minister
in several other parliamentary democracies.
Current officeholder is
Karl Nehammer
of the
Austrian People's Party
(OVP), who was sworn in on 6 December 2021 following the resignations of
Sebastian Kurz
and
Alexander Schallenberg
, of the same party, as party leader and Chancellor. All three leaders formed a government with the
Green Party
, the first coalition between these two parties at the federal level.
Brigitte Bierlein
was the Second Republic's first
Kanzlerin
, forming a nonpartisan caretaker government between a
vote of no confidence
in
Kurz's first government
in June 2019 and the formation of
his second
in January 2020.
[1]
The chancellor's place in Austria's political system
[
edit
]
Austria's chancellor chairs and leads the
cabinet
, which is composed of the chancellor, the
vice chancellor
and the
ministers
. Together with the
president
, who is
head of state
, the cabinet forms the country's
executive branch leadership
.
Austria is a
parliamentary republic
, the
system of government
in which real power is vested in the head of government. However, in Austria most executive actions of great extent can only be exercised by the president, upon advice or with the countersignature of the chancellor or a specific minister. Therefore the chancellor often requires the president's consent to implement greater decisions. Neither the ministers nor the vice chancellor report to the chancellor.
In legislature, the chancellor's power depends on the size of their affiliated
parliamentary group
. In case of a
coalition cabinet
, the chancellor commonly is the leader of the party most represented in the
National Council
, with the leader of the party able to grant a majority, usually serving as the vice chancellor.
The first Austrian
sovereign
head of government was the State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire, a position only held by
Klemens von Metternich
. The office was later renamed to
Minister-President of the Austrian Empire
and remained from there on until the
dissolution of
Austria-Hungary
. The first head of government after the monarchy was the State Chancellor of
German-Austria
, an office again only held by one person;
Karl Renner
. After
allied powers
declined a union between Austria and
Germany
, the office was renamed to just State Chancellor of Austria and later changed to Federal Chancellor, which remained the position's final form until present day.
The
official residence
and executive office of the chancellor is the
chancellery
, which is located at the
Ballhausplatz
in the
center
of
Vienna
. Both the chancellor as well as the cabinet are appointed by the president and can be dismissed by the president.
The current officeholder is
Karl Nehammer
, who was sworn in as chancellor on 6 December 2021 by President
Alexander Van der Bellen
.
History
[
edit
]
The use of the term
Chancellor
(
Kanzler
, derived from
Latin
:
cancellarius
) as head of the
chancery
writing office can be traced back as far as the 9th century, when under King
Louis the German
the office of the
Archchancellor
(
Erzkanzler
), later Imperial Chancellor (
Reichserzkanzler
), was created as a
high office
on the service of the
Holy Roman Emperor
.
[2]
The task was usually fulfilled by the
Prince-Archbishops of Mainz
as Archchancellors of the
German lands
.
In the course of the
Imperial reform
, the
Habsburg
Emperor
Maximilian I
in 1498 attempted to counter the spiritual power of the
Reichserzkanzler
with a more secular position of an Imperial Court Chancellor (
Hofkanzler
), but the two became merged. These were also the times when attempts were made to balance Imperial absolutism by the creation of
Imperial Governments
(
Reichsregiment
), ultimately a failure.
Habsburg Monarchy
[
edit
]
Nevertheless, when Maximilian's grandson
Ferdinand I
succeeded him as
Archduke of Austria
in 1521, his elder brother
Emperor Charles V
(1519?1556) appointed
Mercurino Gattinara
as "Grand Chancellor of all the realms and kingdoms of the king" (
Großkanzler aller Lander und Konigreiche
). The separate position of an Austrian Court Chancellor appeared as a
Osterreichische Hofkanzlei
around 1526, when the
Habsburg monarchy
arose with the
Bohemian
and
Hungarian
inheritance; it was however once again merged with the equivalent
Reichshofkanzlei
office of the
Holy Roman Empire
in 1559.
Upon the 1620
Battle of White Mountain
and the suppression of the Bohemian revolt, Emperor
Ferdinand II
had separate Court Chancelleries established in order to strengthen the unity of the Habsburg hereditary lands. Beside a Bohemian and Hungarian chancellery, he created the office of an Austrian chancellor in
Vienna
, responsible for the Archduchy of Austria proper (i.e.
Upper
and
Lower Austria
) with the
Inner Austrian
territories and
Tyrol
. Under Emperor
Leopold I
(1658?1705) the term again became
Hofkanzler
with
Johann Paul Freiherr von Hocher
(1667?1683), and
Theodor von Strattman
(1683?1693).
[3]
The eighteenth century was dominated by Prince
Wenzel Anton of Kaunitz-Rietberg
(1753?1792), who was Chancellor to four Habsburg emperors from
Maria Theresa
to
Francis II
, with the titles of both
Hofkanzler
and
Staatskanzler
. He was succeeded by
Johann Philipp von Cobenzl
(1792?1793), who was dismissed by Emperor Francis II over the
Partition of Poland
and was succeeded by
Johann Amadeus von Thugut
(1793?1800). Thugut's chancellorship did not survive the Austrian defeats by the French at the battles of
Marengo
and
Hohenlinden
in 1800 and he was replaced by
Count Ludwig von Cobenzl
(1800?1805), his predecessor's cousin, but who in turn was dismissed following the Austrian defeat at
Austerlitz
in 1805.
Austrian Empire
[
edit
]
With the consequent dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and founding of the
Austrian Empire
, Francis II abdicated the former Imperial Throne, but remained Emperor Francis I of Austria in 1806. He had replaced Cobenzl with
Johann Philipp Stadion, Count von Warthausen
(1805?1809) the previous year, but his career was in turn cut short in 1809 following yet another Austrian defeat by
Napoleon
at the
Battle of Wagram
and subsequent humiliation at the
Treaty of Schonbrunn
. Prince
Klemens von Metternich
was appointed by Francis I to the positions of
Hofkanzler
and
Staatskanzler
(1821?1848). However, there is some opinion that the Chancellor title was not used between Prince Kaunitz-Rietberg's resignation in 1792 and 1821.
[4]
As the
Metternich system
had become a synonym for his reactionary politics, the title of a State Chancellor was abolished upon the
1848 revolutions
. The position became that of a
Minister-President of Austria
, equivalent to Prime Minister, with the exception of
Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust
(1867?1871)
[3]
[5]
the title only re-emerging at the birth of
German Austria
after
World War I
in 1918, when
Karl Renner
was appointed
Staatskanzler
. With the enactment of the
Constitution of Austria
on 10 November 1920, the actual term
Bundeskanzler
was implemented as head of the executive branch of the
First Austrian Republic
.
[
citation needed
]
Appointment
[
edit
]
The Chancellor is appointed and sworn in by the
President
.
[6]
In theory, the President can appoint anyone eligible to be elected to the
National Council
, essentially meaning any Austrian national over the age of 18.
[7]
In practice, a Chancellor is unable to govern without the confidence of the National Council. For this reason, the Chancellor usually is the leader of the largest party in the National Council, or the senior partner in a
coalition government
. A notable exception to this occurred after the
1999 election
. The
Freedom Party
won the most seats and went into coalition with the
People's Party
. While this would have normally made Freedom Party leader
Jorg Haider
Chancellor, he was deemed too controversial to be a member of the Cabinet, let alone Chancellor. He thus stepped aside in favour of People's Party leader
Wolfgang Schussel
.
There are no term limits for the Chancellor. As a matter of constitutional convention, the Chancellor usually offers their resignation to the President upon dissolution of the National Council. The President usually declines the offer of resignation and directs the Chancellor and the cabinet to operate as a
caretaker government
until a new National Council is in session and a new majority leader has emerged. In fact, the constitution expressly encourages the President to use a Chancellor as the interim successor.
[8]
A Chancellor is typically appointed or dismissed together with all of the ministers, which means the whole government. Technically, the President can only appoint ministers on advice of the Chancellor, so the Chancellor is appointed first. Having been sworn in, the Chancellor presents the President with a list of ministers; they will usually have been installed just minutes later. Neither Chancellors nor ministers need to be confirmed by either house of parliament; the appointees are fully capable of discharging the functions of their respective offices immediately after having been sworn in.
[9]
The National Council can force the President to dismiss a Chancellor or a minister through a
vote of no confidence
. The President is constitutionally required to dismiss a cabinet member the National Council declares it wants gone.
[10]
Opposition parties will sometimes table votes of no confidence against ministers, and occasionally whole cabinets, in order to demonstrate criticism; these votes had not been expected to pass. The first successful vote of no confidence in Austrian federal politics took place in May 2019 when
Sebastian Kurz
was ousted as Chancellor.
[11]
[12]
Role and powers
[
edit
]
The Chancellor chairs the meetings of the
cabinet
. The
constitution
does not vest the Chancellor with the authority to issue directions to ministers; it characterizes his or her role in the cabinet as that of a
primus inter pares
.
[13]
The power of the office to set policy derives partly from its inherent prestige, partly from the fact that the President is required to dismiss ministers the Chancellor requests removed,
[9]
and partly from the Chancellor's position of leadership in the party or coalition controlling the National Council.
Most articles of the constitution that mention the office of Chancellor are tasking the incumbent with notarizing decisions by the President or by various constitutional bodies, with ensuring that these decisions are duly announced to the general public, or with acting as an intermediary between various branches of government. In particular, the Chancellor
- submits bills passed by the National Council to the President for certification,
- countersigns certifications of bills made by the President,
[14]
- announces the bills that have thus become laws,
- announces treaties the Republic of Austria is party to upon ratification,
[15]
- announces Constitutional Court decision overturning laws or executive orders,
[16]
- announces the results of Presidential elections,
[17]
- announces changes to the Rules of Procedure adopted by the
Federal Council
,
[18]
- countersigns decisions reached by the
Federal Assembly
,
[19]
- announces declarations of war,
[19]
and
- notifies provincial governments of bills passed by the National Council that require their assent to become law.
[20]
The Chancellor also convenes the Federal Assembly if the National Council moves to have the President removed from office,
[17]
or if the National Council moves to lift the immunity of the President from criminal prosecution.
[21]
In the former case, the Federal Assembly votes on whether to allow a referendum on the matter. In the latter case, the assent of the Federal Assembly is required for the President's immunity to be rescinded.
Finally, the Chancellor becomes Acting President if the President is incapacitated. However, if the President remains incapacitated beyond twenty days or has died, the role of Acting President is passed on to the three Presidents of the National Council.
[22]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
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