Austrian conservative Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday January 4 that he will step down as chancellor and president of his party “in the coming days”after the end of negotiations with the Social Democrats to try to form a government.
“After the breakdown of the coalition negotiations, I (…) will step down as both Chancellor and Chairman of the People's Party in the coming days and enable an orderly transition”declared Mr. Nehammer in a message on X, more than three months after the legislative elections of September 29.
This unexpected decision could lead to early elections or force the conservatives to negotiate with the far right, which came first in the legislative elections. It comes the day after the liberal Neos party decided to withdraw from tripartite negotiations aimed at forming a centrist government. The aim was to sideline the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ, far right), which came first in the last legislative elections.
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Reservations regarding the leader of the FPÖ
The FPÖ had gathered 28.8% of the votes but was unable to find allies to form a government. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) came in second with 26.3% of the vote, followed by the center-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) with 21.1%. These results had led Mr. Nehammer to initiate discussions with the SPO and the liberal Neos to form a government, but these three-party negotiations failed on Friday with the withdrawal of Neos.
The two remaining parties had said they wanted to continue the work, but on Saturday, Mr. Nehammer announced on “agreement with the SPO [était] impossible on key questions » and that “therefore, we are terminating negotiations with the SPO”. He lamented not having been able to create a “strength of political centrism in order to build a bulwark against the radicals”. “I have a deep conviction that radicals do not offer the solution to a single problem, but only live to highlight the problems”he added, claiming to have “always fought for stability”even if it was not “not sexy in politics”.
On Friday, President Alexander Van der Bellen called on the two parties to form a government “without delay”. Mr. Van der Bellen had initially asked the conservatives to form a stable government that respected the “foundations of our liberal democracy”. In the past, he has repeatedly expressed reservations about the radical leader of the FPÖ, Herbert Kickl.
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A coalition of three parties to form a government would have been a first since 1949 in Austria, where the economy is losing momentum while the public deficit is soaring. The conservative chancellor had already warned that the coalition discussions, which began in October – initially without the liberals – promised to be difficult.
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The ÖVP has ruled the country of 9 million inhabitants since 1987. It has already governed twice with the FPÖ as a minority partner, in 2000 and in 2017. Chancellor Nehammer said he was open to discussions with the FPÖ FPÖ, but he has always ruled out working with his leader.
