Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would step down as head of government and chairman of the conservative People’s Party after failing to form a new coalition following September elections.
The move raises the chances of repeat elections, while the conservatives could also appoint a leader who, unlike Nehammer, is willing to form a government with the far-right Freedom Party, which won the most seats at the September ballot.
Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the provincial leader of Lower Austria and a conservative power broker, said the party’s leadership would meet yesterday to discuss the next steps.
Photo: Reuters
Snap elections would require backing from a majority in the Austrian parliament’s lower house.
Potential candidates for the conservative leadership include Karoline Edtstadler, a former minister for constitution, as well as former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who could stage a comeback after resigning in 2021 due to a corruption probe, the Kurier newspaper said, citing party sources it did not name.
Nehammer’s announcement ends three months of efforts to form a centrist coalition. Talks had narrowed down to the conservatives and the Social Democrats on Saturday after the liberal Neos abandoned negotiations earlier in the week.
Nehammer on Saturday said he is also ending talks with the Socialists.
“An agreement has not been possible on significant core issues,” Nehammer said in a statement on X. “I will step down as chancellor as well as leader of the People’s Party in the following days, and facilitate an orderly handover.”
Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl stands to capitalize the most from the political turmoil that is hitting Austria at a difficult time, with large swathes of its economy facing headwinds and its budget in need of consolidation.
Kickl led the far-right group to its first ever election victory in September last year, securing 28.8 percent support. However, his policy initiatives had proven too toxic for the other parties, including opposing support for Ukraine, criticizing COVID-19 pandemic policies and pushing for mass deportation of immigrants.
In a statement on Saturday, Kickl said the People’s Party’s next steps would be a litmus test for whether it “has at least begun to understand the will of voters.”
While the Freedom Party has been part of the Austrian political establishment for more than half a decade, a government led by the party would be a first for the country and comes amid a surge in radical far-right groups across Europe.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS