VIENNA
\nAustria\u2019s conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Saturday he would step down in the \u201ccoming days\u201d after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats over disagreements on key issues.
\nThe surprise move might lead to snap polls being called in the Alpine EU member country — or the conservatives might negotiate with the far right that won national elections in September. Nehammer announced in a video message on X that he would step down \u201cboth as chancellor and party chairman of the People\u2019s Party (OeVP) in the coming days and enable an orderly transition\u201d.
\nThe development comes just one day after Austria\u2019s liberal party withdrew from three-party coalition talks to form a centrist government. The aim had been to sideline the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) that won September elections with 29 percent but was unable to find partners to form a national government in the Alpine EU member state.
\nNehammer said on Saturday that he had wanted to be \u201cthe force of the political centre in order to build a bulwark against the radicals\u201d who \u201conly live by describing problems\u201d rather than solving them. He \u201calways stood for stability\u201d, he added — even if that was \u201cnot sexy in politics\u201d. FPOe leader Herbert Kickl in a statement called the parties involved in the coalition talks \u201closers\u201d, saying that \u201cinstead of stability, we have chaos\u201d after three \u201cwasted months\u201d.
\nThe conservative People\u2019s Party came second with 26 percent, while the centre-left Social Democrats (SPOe) gained 21 percent in September. That led Nehammer to pursue talks with the SPOe and the liberal party NEOS, who got nine percent, to form a government to shut out the far right, but those three-way talks collapsed on Friday.
\nThe remaining two parties had vowed to continue their work, but after just one day Nehammer announced on X that \u201cagreement with the SPOe is not possible on key issues. \u201cWe are therefore ending negotiations with the SPOe,\u201d he added. Wealth and inheritance taxes, pensions as well as different views on how to reign in the country\u2019s ballooning budget deficit have been cited as the main sticking points in the coalition talks.
\nSPOe leader Andreas Babler said those within the conservative party that \u201chave always flirted\u201d with the far right have \u201cprevailed\u201d, warning of a \u201cFPOe-OeVP government with a right-wing extremist chancellor\u201d. On Friday, President Alexander Van der Bellen had called on the OeVP and SPOe to form a government \u201cwithout delay\u201d.
\nVan der Bellen had initially tasked the conservatives with forming a stable government that respects the \u201cfoundations of our liberal democracy\u201d.In the past, he has voiced reservations about the FPOe\u2019s Kickl. If the OeVP decides to form a government with the FPOe, the president \u201cmust be prepared to swear in Kickl as chancellor\u201d, or if the two parties do not enter talks or find an agreement \u201cthere will be new elections\u201d, analyst Peter Filzmaier told media.
\nThe latest opinion polls currently put the FPOe at around 35 percent. The OeVP has been part of government in the Alpine country of nine million since 1987. It has governed several times with the FPOe as junior partners since 2000.
\nWhile Nehammer in the past said he was open to talks with the FPOe, he has repeatedly ruled out working with Kickl.
\nA three-party governing coalition would have been a first since 1949 in Austria, which faces a flagging economy. Nehammer had already warned that the coalition talks would be an uphill task.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VIENNA Austria\u2019s conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Saturday he would step down in the \u201ccoming days\u201d after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats over disagreements on key issues. The surprise move might lead to snap polls being called in the Alpine EU member country — or the conservatives might negotiate with the far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-453734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n