Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer to step down in ‘coming days’ after coalition talks collapse
(L-R) The leader of Austria's social democratic SPOe party Andreas Babler, the leader of Austria's conservative OeVP party, Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer and the leader of Austria's liberal NEOS party Beate Meinl-Reisinger address a press conference following talks on forming a new government in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 18, 2024. (AFP Photo)
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced Saturday that he would step down from both his role as chancellor and as the leader of the People’s Party following the breakdown of coalition talks with the Social Democrats.
“After the break-off of the coalition talks, I will step down both as chancellor and party chairman of the People’s Party in the coming days and enable an orderly transition,” Nehammer wrote in a post on the social media platform X.
The announcement came one day after Austria’s liberal party withdrew from three-party coalition talks aimed at forming a centrist government to sideline the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which won the September 29 national elections with 28.8 percent of the vote. The FPOe has been unable to form a government.
The conservative People’s Party came second with 26.3 percent, while the center-left Social Democrats secured 21.1 percent.
Nehammer had been negotiating with the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS party to form a coalition, but those talks collapsed on Friday, with Nehammer announcing on X that “agreement with the Social Democrats is not possible on key issues.”
President Alexander Van der Bellen had urged the parties to form a government “without delay,” and a three-party coalition would have been the first of its kind since 1949.
The country is grappling with an economic slowdown and a growing budget deficit, putting additional pressure on coalition negotiations.
