Vienna [Austria], February 28: Three centrist Austrian parties have reached an agreement to form a government, putting an end to five months of political instability in Vienna since the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) won September's parliamentary election.
The conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the liberal NEOS have agreed on a three-party coalition, an ÖVP spokesman said on Thursday. The agreement comes weeks after the FPÖ looked set to lead a national government for the first time, before talks with the ÖVP broke down.
Details of the new coalition were expected to be presented at a press conference later on Thursday morning, with their programme for government being titled "Do the Right Thing Now. For Austria." The agreement is provisional as NEOS still needs to get the green light from its party base, which is expected to happen on Sunday.
ÖVP leader Christian Stocker is set to lead the coalition as chancellor, while SPÖ leader Andreas Babler will take on the position of vice chancellor. Austria has seen the longest period of coalition-building in its history, more than 150 days since the FPÖ finished top in September's election on 28.8% of the vote.
The ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS initially sought to forge a centrist coalition to keep the right-wing populists away from the chancellorship, but talks fell apart in January when the liberal party withdrew from the negotiations.
Shortly after, discussions also failed between the ÖVP and SPÖ regarding a two-party coalition.
President Alexander Van der Bellen eventually tasked FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl with forming a government. Kickl wanted to collaborate with the ÖVP, but his party - seen as eurosceptic and friendly to Moscow - could not agree on a foreign policy line with the pro-European conservatives.
Additionally, there was considerable mistrust between the two parties.
To end the political crisis, van der Bellen appealed to the national interest, calling on centrist parties to reach a consensus for the sake of Austria.
Source: Qatar Tribune
