The Greens held a party leadership meeting on 30 September 2008; despite the slight losses the Greens suffered, Van der Bellen did not step down, as he was nonetheless regarded as enjoying strong support from both party members and voters; the Greens did not rule out a Kenya coalition or supporting a minority government under some circumstances. It was expected that Van der Bellen would step down at a later date. Van der Bellen resigned on 3 October 2008 and was provisionally replaced by Eva Glawischnig, who had long been considered his designated successor; she was confirmed as federal spokeswoman at the party congress on 17 January, and 18 January 2009 in Klagenfurt with 97.4% of the delegates' votes, the best result for a spokesperson of the Greens so far and also an unexpectedly decisive result; she had stated she was hoping for "more than 80%". Van der Bellen said he would remain an MP. Van der Bellen's resignation came as a surprise, as he was assumed to continue as federal spokesman for a few more months before resigning. Glawischnig was also unanimously selected as chief of the Greens' parliamentary club on 24 October 2008.
