Austrian conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday that he will step down as chancellor and chairman 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 written and video message posted Saturday evening on the social network 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 decision of the liberal Neos party to withdraw from tripartite negotiations aimed at forming a centrist government, the aim of which was to remove the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ, far right) from power. The FPÖ had gathered 28.8% of the votes in the legislative elections, but was unable to find allies to form a government in the Alpine EU member country.
“bulwark against the radicals”
The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP, conservatives) came in second place with 26.3% of the vote, followed by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ, center-left) with 21.1%. These results had led the chancellor to initiate discussions with the SPÖ and Neos (9% of the vote) to form a government and block the far right, but the three-party negotiations failed on Friday with the withdrawal of Neos.
The two remaining parties said they wanted to continue the work. But on Saturday, after 24 hours of new discussions, Karl Nehammer announced on “agreement with the SPÖ is impossible on key issues” and that ” therefore “he put “end of negotiations with the SPÖ”. The main areas of contention cited by Austrian media are wealth tax, inheritance taxes, pensions, and differences over how to control the budget deficit.
The Chancellor deplored 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”.
In a statement, far-right party leader Herbert Kickl called « losers » the parties involved in the coalition discussions. “Instead of stability we have chaos” after three “wasted months”he added.
If the conservative ÖVP decides to form a government with the far-right FPÖ, President “must prepare to induct Kickl as chancellor”warned political analyst Peter Filzmaier. If the two parties do not engage in discussions or fail to reach an agreement, “there will be new elections”he added. The latest polls place the FPÖ at around 35%.
