Austria: Coalition talks collapsed – Chancellor wants to resign

The negotiations over a centrist government without the right-wing FPÖ in Austria have failed. Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer wants to resign as head of government and head of the conservative ÖVP. After the coalition negotiations failed, he would withdraw from these posts in the coming days, he said in a video message.

“I will step down as Federal Chancellor and also as party chairman of the People’s Party in the next few days and enable an orderly transition.”

The conservative ÖVP has ended its talks with the social democratic SPÖ, party circles confirmed. The APA news agency had previously reported on the end of the negotiations.

“An agreement is not possible on essential key points, so it makes no sense for a positive future for Austria,” said Nehammer on Saturday evening, according to the APA. The ÖVP wants to provide information about the further timetable shortly.

It was only on Friday that the liberal Neos surprisingly withdrew from negotiations with the ÖVP and SPÖ about a traffic light coalition after weeks of struggle. The two remaining parties then continued talks on Saturday afternoon. However, the discussions had already come to an end in the evening.

The negotiations between the center parties were also an attempt to keep the right-wing FPÖ from power after its election victory at the end of September. However, the ÖVP and SPÖ only had a narrow majority of one vote in parliament.

The SPÖ and ÖVP were unable to find each other in various areas. The SPÖ demanded, among other things, that the state budget should be restructured on the shoulders of richer sections of the population; the ÖVP was strictly against additional taxes. The EU member state Austria is struggling with a weakening economy and a high budget deficit.

“It is obvious that the destructive forces in the SPÖ have gained the upper hand,” said Nehammer. The ÖVP will not agree to any program that is anti-business or anti-performance, he emphasized.

At the same time, Nehammer made it clear that he was still not prepared to hold coalition talks with the right-wing FPÖ under Herbert Kickl. “It is my deep conviction that radicals do not offer a solution to a single problem,” said Nehammer. The business wing of his party, however, prefers a coalition with the FPÖ instead of the SPÖ.

If there are new elections, the right-wing populist FPÖ could hope for a brilliant victory. The latest polls signaled another big increase in votes for Russia-friendly EU skeptics compared to the National Council election. After that, the FPÖ could significantly increase its result from 29 percent to around 35 percent.

The ultra-right FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, who wanted to become chancellor, found no partner in the ÖVP and SPÖ to form a government. Therefore, the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos had started coalition negotiations.

Note: This article has been extensively updated to include additional information.