In the name of respecting an increasingly fragile medical cordon, arithmetic and political logic had led Karl Nehammer’s OVP to try to form a grand coalition with the social democratic party (SPÖ). Without success.
Austrian conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday that he would step down as chancellor and president of his party “in the coming days”after ending negotiations with the Social Democrats to try to form the next government.
“After the breakdown of coalition negotiations, I (…) will step down as both chancellor and chairman of the People’s Party in the coming days and allow for an orderly transition”indicated Karl Nehammer in a message on the social network -Democrats to try to agree.
This unexpected decision comes the day after the decision of the liberal Neos party to withdraw from tripartite negotiations aimed at forming a centrist government. The aim was to sideline the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) which gathered 28.8% of the vote in September but was unable to find allies to form a government. The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) came in second place with 26.3% of the vote, followed by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ, center-left) with 21.1%.
The two remaining centrist parties had said they wanted to continue the work. But on Saturday, the chancellor announced on “agreement with the SPÖ is impossible on key issues” and that “therefore, we are ending negotiations with the SPÖ”. On Friday, President Alexander Van der Bellen called on the two parties to form a government “without delay”. A coalition of three parties to form a government would have been a first in the country since 1949
Swiss
