Austrian Chancellor Nehammer to resign

Coalition negotiations in Austria have come to an end. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced that no agreement could be reached on key issues during the coalition talks between his party, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), and the center-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), and that the negotiations have been terminated.

Nehammer stated, “It is not possible to reach an agreement with the SPÖ on key points. The ÖVP stands by its promises: We will not accept measures that would harm social welfare and the business world, nor will we accept new taxes.

For this reason, we are ending the negotiations with the SPÖ and will not continue them,” he said, announcing that he would resign in the coming days.

NEGOTIATIONS HAD REACHED A DEADLOCK

Yesterday, the liberal Neos party, which was involved in the coalition talks, announced that it was withdrawing from the negotiations. Neos leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger informed Chancellor Nehammer, Social Democratic leader Andreas Babler, and President Alexander Van der Bellen that her party would “not continue” talks on forming a new government, stating that no progress had been made on “fundamental reforms” and that no agreement could be reached.

FAR-RIGHT FINISHED FIRST

In the general elections held in Austria on September 29, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) achieved a historic victory, finishing first at the polls for the first time. Chancellor Karl Nehammer's party, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), came in second, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) third, Neos fourth, and the Greens fifth. The parties with seats in parliament had expressed that they did not want to be part of a coalition with the far-right FPÖ.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen had tasked conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer with forming a government in October. Nehammer had been attempting to form a coalition government with the Social Democrats and the liberal Neos party.

News Source: İHA