Austria's president appealed to all parties in parliament on Wednesday to shun "confrontation" and seek compromises in coalition talks, after the far-right Freedom Party won Sunday's national election but fell far short of an absolute majority.
The Russia-friendly, Eurosceptic Freedom Party (FPO) made history by winning a parliamentary election for the first time since it was founded in the 1950s under a leader who had been an SS officer and Nazi lawmaker.
Having secured around 29% of the vote, it would need a coalition partner to govern but the other parties have said they are not interested.
President Alexander Van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of governments, has told all parties to hold talks with each other, a process which should formally begin soon.
"The election campaign is over. That confrontation is over. Now compromises must be found, common answers to pressing questions," Van der Bellen said in a speech as he accepted the outgoing conservative-led government's resignation and asked it to stay on as caretaker until a new ruling coalition is formed.
He listed questions that touched on issues such as the cost of living, climate change and healthcare but also included "How do we make a positive contribution in the European Union?" and "What image of Austria do we want to present to the world?"
Van der Bellen, a former leader of the left-wing Greens, has expressed reservations about the FPO entering government. On Wednesday he repeated that any future government should respect fundamental values including minority rights, independent media and EU membership.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer's conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP) is the only party to have left the door open to a coalition with the FPO, but Nehammer has repeatedly ruled out going into government with FPO leader Herbert Kickl, who has insisted he will not "vanish into thin air".
The FPO had said it hoped Nehammer would be ousted as OVP leader but the OVP's leadership reaffirmed its support for the chancellor on Tuesday.
Although the FPO currently appears to have no path to power, Nehammer urged the president on Tuesday to formally task the FPO with forming a coalition.
Van der Bellen made no reference to that possibility on Wednesday, saying only that he would speak to representatives of the parties.
"I will do that with the necessary calm and in the necessary depth," he added.
© Thomson Reuters 2024.
7 Comments
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Banthu
That's almost 1 in 3 Austrians.
Average, everyday regular people are fed up with the current state of affairs.
People are sick of the lies, corruption and attacks on their culture and traditions.
bass4funk
They are and when you talk to the average Austrian, they are worried, fearful and just don’t want their country to look like the rest of Western Europe, and they have the absolute right to vote for a party that will ensure that.
ArtistAtLarge
That's because the other parties are smart.
Bob Fosse
“I don’t try to tell the natives about their politics and whom to vote for” didn’t age well, did it?
Bob Fosse
But only almost 1 in 3 of them, as you said.
The people have spoken, over 2 out of 3 of them.
Some dude
“I don’t try to tell the natives about their politics and whom to vote for” didn’t age well, did it?
He makes exceptions for when it fits his deeply, deeply unpleasant view of the world.
GBR48
Quote: 'Russia-friendly' 'FPO leader Herbert Kickl, who has insisted he will not "vanish into thin air".
The irony being that if he was a Russian politician rather than an Austrian one, he might. And if he annoyed Putin, he would.