Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen asked the leaders of the three political parties that won the most votes in the parliamentary elections to negotiate with each other about possible government coalitions. According to him, the goal is to clarify the possibilities of mutual cooperation. Van der Bellen reported on this on Wednesday, TASR writes, according to a Reuters report.
Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen
The far-right opposition Free Party of Austria (FPÖ) last week won elections to the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of parliament, for the first time since it was founded in 1956. It was followed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and in third place by the Social Democrats (SPÖ).
Van der Bellen said on Wednesday that the mandate to form a government usually goes to the party that has achieved an election victory. In the case of the FPÖ, however, the other parties announced that they do not want to govern with the extreme right under the current circumstances. The Austrian president himself has repeatedly criticized the FPÖ’s positions on the EU, migration and the war in Ukraine.
According to the Austrian APA agency, at least two of the three strongest parties are needed to form a government. Their leaders – Herbert Kickl (FPÖ), Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and Andreas Babler (SPÖ) – now have until the end of the week to negotiate with each other. The President then wants to invite them to inform him about the possible results.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
