Austrian chancellor to resign after coalition talks collapse

After talks between Austria’s biggest centrist parties failed to form a government without the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has announced that he will step down.

The liberal Neos party’s withdrawal from the talks with Nehammer’s conservative People’s Party (OPP) and the Social Democrats (SPO) comes one day after the party’s withdrawal on Saturday.

In the coming days, he said, “I will step down as both the People’s Party’s chairman and its chancellor.”

The center-left’s departure from office was revealed in a video posted to his social media accounts, where the outgoing chancellor claimed “long and honest” negotiations with the center-left despite a shared desire to fend off the growing far right.

Nehammer emphasized that his party would not support new taxes or measures it felt would harm the economy.

He vowed to “an orderly transition” and criticized “radicals who live from describing problems and do not offer a single solution.”

The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) received close to 30% of the vote in its first parliamentary election since then.

However, other parties resisted joining forces with Herbert Kickl, the eurosceptical FPO, and its leader, so late in October, President Alexander Van der Bellen gave Nehammer the task of forming a coalition.

Nehammer’s announcement comes after the Neos party and he also failed to come to an agreement.

Beate Meinl-Reisinger, the Neos’ leader, claimed that “fundamental reforms” were unattainable and that progress was impossible.

After the chancellor’s exit, the OVP is expected to convene to discuss potential successors.

Due to ongoing conflict between the parties, Austria’s political landscape is still uncertain, with no guarantee of a stable government.

As the parties work to break out of the impasse, the president may now choose a new leader and an interim government.

The next government in Austria faces the challenge of having to save between 18 to 24 billion euros ($18.5-24.7bn), according to the European Commission.