Austria’s president tasked far-right leader Herbert Kickl with trying to form a government Monday, in a historic move after coalition talks that excluded the Freedom party (FPOe) collapsed.While the far-right party has been part of Austria’s government several times, it is the first time that it will lead coalition talks.The FPOe topped the poll in September’s national election for the first time ever, winning almost 29 percent of the vote but until now had been unable to find partners to govern.After a one-hour-meeting, President Alexander Van der Bellen said he had tasked Kickl with trying to form a government with the conservatives given the “new situation”.Talks between the conservative People’s Party (OeVP), the Social Democrats and liberals fell apart last week.”Mr Kickl believes he can find viable solutions… and he wants this responsibility,” Van der Bellen said.”I have therefore tasked him to enter into talks with the OeVP with a view to forming a federal government,” he said, adding it was “not an easy” decision.While a coalition led by the far right with the conservatives was now “highly likely”, expert Peter Hajek told AFP that the negotiations will be a “litmus test for both”, considering that Kickl was “extremely unpredictable”. – ‘Nazis out’ -Hundreds of people protested against the far right outside the presidency at Vienna’s Hofburg palace, shouting “Nazis out” and holding up signs reading “Unite against the far right”.Van der Bellen had initially asked the long-ruling OeVP, who came second in the September vote, with forming a stable government that respects the “foundations of our liberal democracy”.But on Sunday he said a “new situation” had emerged, as “voices within the People’s Party that rule out working with…. Kickl have become significantly quieter”.In the past, the president has voiced reservations about Kickl.Kickl, 56, who took over a scandal-tainted FPOe in 2021 and led its recovery, is known for his virulent rhetoric, including slamming Van der Bellen as a “senile mummy”.But the sharp-tongued former interior minister has skillfully tapped into voter anxieties over migration, the war in Ukraine and the Covid pandemic.He has also frequently employed terms reminiscent of the troubled past of the party, founded by former Nazis in the 1950s, including calling himself the future “Volkskanzler” — the people’s chancellor — as Adolf Hitler was termed.- ‘New edition of dreadful coalition’ – In the wake of the collapse of the talks, conservative Karl Nehammer said he would step down as chancellor and party chairman to enable an “orderly transition”. He has held both posts since late 2021 and is expected to resign on Friday.In a U-turn, the conservatives on Sunday under their new interim party leader Christian Stocker said they would enter into coalition talks with the far right if invited to do so. “This country needs a stable government now,” Stocker said.Kickl, however, branded the parties involved in the failed coalition negotiations “losers”, adding three months had been “wasted”.The far right and the conservatives together have a comfortable majority of 108 of the 183 seats in the lower house. The International Auschwitz Committee on Monday said Kickl being tasked to form a government was “another dark highlight on the road to European oblivion”, according to the Austrian press agency APA.The Greens accused the conservatives of “voter deception”, while the Social Democrats warned of “a new edition of a dreadful FPOe-OeVP coalition” that will “smash our welfare state, dismantle democracy and divide our society”. The OeVP gained 26 percent of the vote in the September elections, with the centre-left Social Democrats taking 21 percent.The FPOe has never governed the EU country of nine million. It already leads one regional government in Austria and is part of government in four other provinces.
Mon, 06 Jan 2025 17:10:15 GMT
