Van der Bellen instructs ÖVP to form a government

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Lerato Khumalo

In Austria, the ÖVP was tasked with forming a government. Herbert Kickl’s FPÖ finds itself in the opposition despite its election victory.

Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has given the government mandate to the previous Chancellor Karl Nehammer from the conservative ÖVP. Nehammer should immediately start coalition negotiations with the Social Democratic SPÖ, said the head of state. This means that the right-wing FPÖ is out of the running for government participation despite its victory in the parliamentary elections.

The exploratory talks over the past few days have confirmed that no one wants to form a coalition with the FPÖ under party leader Herbert Kickl, explained Van der Bellen. “Herbert Kickl cannot find a coalition partner who will make him Chancellor,” he said.

The ÖVP and SPÖ party leaders explained to the president that they did not want to govern with the FPÖ out of concern for democracy and the rule of law, said Van der Bellen. They also cited the FPÖ’s Moscow-friendly stance, its lack of differentiation from right-wing extremists and the concerns of foreign secret services as reasons.

“Austria needs a government that is capable of acting, a stable government with integrity,” said the president. He did not rule out the possibility that the liberal Neos or the Greens could also become part of the next government in order to secure a broader majority in parliament.

The FPÖ won the election to the National Council at the end of September with 29 percent. The ÖVP suffered heavy losses of votes and was relegated to second place with 26 percent. The SPÖ slipped to a historic low of 21 percent, followed by the Neos (9 percent) and the Greens, who had previously governed with the ÖVP (8 percent).