Bierlein government | |
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 32ndCabinet of Austria | |
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| Date formed | 3 June 2019 (2019-06-03) |
| Date dissolved | 7 January 2020 (2020-01-07) |
| People and organisations | |
| Appointed by | Alexander Van der Bellen |
| Chancellor | Brigitte Bierlein |
| Vice-Chancellor | Clemens Jabloner (until October 2019) |
| No. of ministers | 12 |
| Status in legislature | Technocraticcabinet |
| History | |
| Predecessor | First Kurz government |
| Successor | Second Kurz government |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Austria |
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TheBierlein government (German:Bundesregierung Bierlein) was the 32ndGovernment of Austria following the collapse of theFirst Kurz government headed by ChancellorSebastian Kurz in the aftermath of theIbiza affair. Sworn in on 3 June 2019, the Bierlein government was the first purely technocratic government in Austrian history, first new government after a successfulmotion of no confidence in Parliament and first government headed by a femalechancellor. As head of government,Brigitte Bierlein was assisted byClemens Jabloner as vice-chancellor.
The cabinet was officially dissolved on 7 January 2020 and succeeded by theSecond Kurz government, in whichThe Greens replaced theFreedom Party as thePeople's Party's junior coalition partner. Both newly-installed government parties have gained support at the expense of the People's Party's previous coalition partners in the2019 legislative election.
TheFirst Kurz government was a coalition government between the conservativeAustrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the right-wingFreedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). In May 2019, following theIbiza affair, vice chancellor and Freedom Party leaderHeinz-Christian Strache and his deputy,Johann Gudenus, both resigned from all of their offices.[1] People's Party ChancellorSebastian Kurz called for new elections.[2] However, Kurz petitionedFederal PresidentAlexander Van der Bellen to additionally remove the controversial[3][4][5] FPÖ Minister of the Interior,Herbert Kickl, from office. This prompted all other FPÖ ministers to resign from their ministries as well.[6][7]
As a result, the Kurz I government was no longer supported by a majority of the members of the National Council, and was removed in republican Austria's first successfulvote of no confidence.[8] President Van der Bellen appointedBrigitte Bierlein, then head of theConstitutional Court, as interim chancellor. Following the Austrian constitution, she then picked the rest of the ministers, subject to the president's approval.
While Austria has a directly elected president who is legally allowed to appoint anybody he sees fit asChancellor, theNational Council's ability to pass amotion of no confidence means that Austrian governments effectively still requireconfidence and supply, like in purely parliamentary democracies. Even thoughcoalition governments have, in the past, often failed, they usually remained in office until the next government was elected and appointed. A technocratic government was sometimes mentioned as a possible alternative to partisan coalition governments, but beyond the occasional appointment of independent experts to select ministries, the idea was dismissed as unrealistic due to aforementioned confidence requirements.
The removal of SebastianKurz from office marked the first time in the history of Austria that a successful motion of no confidence was passed against an entire government at once. PresidentVan der Bellen was forced to appoint a new government, but there were no other feasible coalitions, and the new election date was already set for late September. With votes from the opposition, including the oustedFreedom Party, it was even moved to a later date than what was proposed by Kurz'People's Party. It was therefore no a surprise when Van der Bellen, again for the first time in Austria, used his powers to appoint an independent chancellor.
Bierlein was the first chancellor not affiliated with either one of the major parties, theAustrian People's Party and theSocial Democratic Party of Austria. She was also the first female chancellor, and the first independent chancellor, to have been appointed following a successful motion of no confidence.
The cabinet consists of:[9]
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