(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, JAN 3 - Austria's three-way coalition
talks to form a new government failed on Friday, with the head
of the liberal party announcing its withdrawal from the
negotiations. The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped
September 29 national polls for the first time ever, winning
28.8 percent of the vote, ahead of the ruling conservative
People's Party (OeVP) with 26.3 percent. The centre-left Social
Democrats (SPOe) came third with 21.1 percent. However, the FPOe
has been unable to find partners to form a national government.
That left outgoing conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer in
talks with the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS party to
form a government in the Alpine EU member state, which is home
to nine million people. In a hastily arranged press conference
on Friday, NEOS head Beate Meinl-Reisinger said that she had
informed President Alexander Van der Bellen that her party "will
not continue the negotiations" after little progress was made on
crucial reforms. But Meinl-Reisinger offered parliamentary
support to the two other parties, adding that "we are not saying
no to reforms, to the compromises that have already been
reached". A three-party governing coalition would have been a
first since 1949 in Austria, which faces a flagging economy as
well as a ballooning budget deficit. Nehammer had said that the
coalition talks, which began in October, would be an uphill
task. It has taken an average of 62 days to form a government in
Austria after elections. (ANSA-AFP).
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