Austria forms new government, excluding far-right election winner

Austria’s conservative Peoples’ Party (ÖVP), centre-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) and liberal Neos have reached a coalition agreement after five months of political deadlock.

A statement from the parties says they agreed on a program for a coalition after the longest post-election hiatus in post-World War II Austria, Caliber.Az reports, citing international media.

The country’s politicians broke a record of 129 days to form a new government that dated back to 1962.

People’s Party leader Christian Stocker is expected to become chancellor. The parties planned to present their program later on February 27.

This was the second attempt by the three mainstream parties to form a new government without the far-right, anti-immigration and euroskeptic Freedom Party, which in Austria’s September 29 election emerged for the first time as the strongest political force. It took 28.8% of the vote.

Their first effort collapsed in early January, prompting the resignation of conservative then-Chancellor Karl Nehammer — and setting the scene for Austria’s president to ask Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl to try to form a government.

Kickl’s own attempt to put together a coalition with the People’s Party, which finished second in the election, collapsed in mutual recriminations on February 12. The mainstream parties, which faced the risk of a new election that was unlikely to do them any favours, resumed their effort to find common ground.

The outgoing government, a coalition of the People’s Party and environmentalist Greens now led by interim Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, has remained in place on a caretaker basis since the election.

The People’s Party and Social Democrats often governed Austria together in the past but have the barest possible majority in the parliament elected in September, with a combined 92 of the 183 seats.

That was widely considered too small a cushion, and the two parties sought to bring in Neos, which has 18 seats and hasn’t previously joined a national government.

By Tamilla Hasanova