Austria’s chancellor asked to form new government after parties refuse to work with far-right leader
Austria’s chancellor asked to form new government after parties refuse to work with far-right leader
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer looks up while attending a debate at the national broadcaster studio, set up in the parliament building, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer smiles upon arriving at a polling station in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, to cast his vote in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria celebrates with supporters, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer looks up while attending a debate at the national broadcaster studio, set up in the parliament building, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer looks up while attending a debate at the national broadcaster studio, set up in the parliament building, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer smiles upon arriving at a polling station in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, to cast his vote in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer smiles upon arriving at a polling station in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, to cast his vote in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria celebrates with supporters, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria celebrates with supporters, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country’s national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s president on Tuesday tasked incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer with forming a new government after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which last month won a national election for the first time.
Traditionally, the head of state has asked the leader of the strongest party to form a government. But President Alexander Van der Bellen dispensed with that tradition this time after the Sept. 29 parliamentary election produced a stalemate.
Whoever leads the next government will need to build a coalition to have a parliamentary majority. But Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party has said that it wouldn’t work with the Freedom Party under its leader, Herbert Kickl. The other three parties in the new parliament said they wouldn’t work with the Freedom Party at all. And Kickl said the Freedom Party would only go into government with him as chancellor.
The Freedom Party finished first in the election with 28.8% of the vote, ahead of Nehammer’s party, which took 26.3%. The center-left Social Democrats were third with 21.1%. The outgoing governing coalition of Nehammer’s party and the environmentalist Greens lost its majority.
Van der Bellen on Oct. 9 asked the leaders of the three strongest parties to hold talks on possible cooperation. They reported back on Monday, and the president said all had stuck to their positions.
“This means clearly and unambiguously — confirmed repeatedly, with a reflection period and with extra talks — that Herbert Kickl won’t find any coalition partner who will make him chancellor,” he said.
As a result, he said he was asking Nehammer to form a government and start talks with the Social Democrats. Those two parties, which governed together repeatedly in the past, have the barest possible majority in the new parliament, with a combined 92 of the 183 seats.
That’s widely considered too small a cushion. Van der Bellen, who will have to swear in a new administration, said that he wanted clarity on whether it would be enough for a “stable government” or whether a third partner would be needed.
The liberal Neos party, which took 9.1% of the vote last month, is the likeliest option.
The Freedom Party tapped into anxieties about immigration, inflation, Russia’s war in Ukraine and other issues to secure its best-ever result. It has served before as the junior partner in governments led by the People’s Party, but the conservatives have argued that it’s not possible to work with Kickl, a 55-year-old with a taste for provocation who has been the Freedom Party leader since 2021.
There is no formal deadline for forming a new government and no guarantee that Nehammer, who has been Austria’s leader for nearly three years, will succeed.
There was no immediate comment from Nehammer or Kickl.
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Geir Moulson reported from Berlin.