Chancellor of Silence

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Chancellor of silence is a pejorative political catchphrase in Austria for a head of government who does not comment on an important topic. The expression became Austrian word of the year in 2005 and again in 2018 in relation to Wolfgang Schüssel and Sebastian Kurz respectively .

The word appeared in the time of the Schüssel government (2000-2007), a coalition of the conservative ÖVP with the right-wing FPÖ (then BZÖ ) under Jörg Haider . Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel was accused by the opposition of distancing himself too little from right-wing populist and radical statements by the coalition partner.

In short, from 2017 to 2019 Federal Chancellor for the ÖVP, who in turn formed a coalition with the FPÖ (Vice Chancellor Strache ), was also given this word. The government started with the declared intention not to get lost in intra-coalition disputes like the red-black pre- government. Since there were also allegations against the FPÖ at this time for lack of distance to the extreme right, which Kurz hardly commented on, the political scientist Peter Filzmaier coined “Silent Chancellor 2.0”.

The term is currently being used more and more in connection with the Ibiza affair in May 2019, when Chancellor Kurz reacted in a noticeably unspontaneous manner, although he reportedly knew the associated video 48 hours before it was published by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Spiegel . In fact, Kurz did not get in touch until more than 24 hours after publication to re-elect the government and to announce the election of the National Council.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ E.g. in “Schweige-Kanzler” is “Word of the Year”: Schüssel shines through verbal thrift. In: news.at , December 15, 2005.
  2. ↑ Quoting Peter Filzmaier, ZIB2, July 20, 2018, cf. hierz: "Kurz makes a name for himself as Chancellor of Silence 2.0". In: Kleine Zeitung , July 20, 2018 (close to the aforementioned broadcast).
  3. ↑ Martin Behr: "Schweigekanzler" and Co - what is behind the words of the year. In: Salzburger Nachrichten , December 6, 2018.