(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, FEB 27 - Austria's conservative People's
Party (OeVP) on Thursday announced a government coalition with
two centrist parties that excludes the far right, which came
first in elections in September. The deal caps months of
negotiations after the Freedom Party (FPOe)'s historic election
win, when it gained almost 29 percent. Negotiations between the
FPOe and OeVP on Austria's first far right-led government broke
down this month. After the collapse, the OeVP, the Social
Democrats (SPOe) and the liberals res resumed coalition talks
after their first attempt at forming a government failed in
January. OeVP leader Christian Stocker said that a "common
programme" had been agreed with the SPOe and liberals and would
be presented on Thursday. "In recent days, work has been carried
out around the clock on a common programme," the party said in a
press release. The programme is entitled "Do the right thing
now. For Austria," it added. With the country without a
government for the longest stretch in its modern history,
President Alexander Van der Bellen had called on party leaders
to quickly compromise. The OeVP -- which has ruled the Alpine
country of nine million since 1987 -- has already governed
several times with the SPOe in what is known as a grand
coalition. (ANSA-AFP).
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