Austrian President Assigns Freedom Party to Establish New Government
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Vienna, Jan 6 (NationPress) Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Monday assigned Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl with the responsibility of establishing a new government following the breakdown of recent coalition discussions that did not involve the far-right party.
President Van der Bellen made this announcement after a one-hour conversation with Kickl around noon. During a press briefing, the president stated that the political environment had changed, as the People's Party was now prepared to negotiate a coalition under Kickl's direction.
Kickl expressed optimism regarding the pursuit of viable solutions and affirmed his readiness to accept this responsibility, as reported by the Austrian news agency APA.
The Freedom Party has previously participated as a junior coalition partner but has yet to lead an Austrian government.
The recent action by the Austrian president followed the failure of coalition talks among three parties: the People's Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the NEOS party. Subsequent discussions between two parties also fell short after NEOS withdrew.
In the September parliamentary elections, the Freedom Party received approximately 29 percent of the votes, surpassing the People's Party at 26.3 percent and the Social Democratic Party at 21.1 percent. Despite securing the parliamentary presidency, the Freedom Party could not find coalition partners to form a government.
In October, Van der Bellen had tasked the People's Party with the responsibility of forming a government. However, coalition negotiations led by the party extended from mid-November until their abrupt collapse over the weekend, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
On Saturday, Karl Nehammer resigned as chancellor and chairman of the People's Party following the failed negotiations. Nehammer had consistently opposed forming a coalition with the Freedom Party under Kickl.
On Sunday, the People's Party appointed secretary-general Christian Stocker as the interim leader. Although Stocker has been a vocal critic of Kickl, he later indicated that his party was open to coalition discussions with the Freedom Party.
Stocker justified this change, emphasizing the necessity for a stable government and the desire to avoid wasting time on election campaigns.
