Sawt Falasteen - Austria's conservatives ready for coalition talks with far right

Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Saturday broke off talks to form a government without the FPOe, which had won national elections in September for the first time.

In the wake of the collapse, Nehammer said he would step down as chancellor and party chairman of the People's Party (OeVP) in the coming days to enable an "orderly transition". He has held both posts since late 2021.

At a leadership meeting of the conservatives on Sunday, OeVP Secretary General Christian Stocker was chosen as interim party leader.

Stocker said he had been authorised by his party to enter into coalition talks with the far right if invited to do so.

"This country needs a stable government right now, and we can't keep losing time to election campaigns or elections that we don't have," Stocker said.

Shortly before, Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen announced he would meet FPOe leader Herbert Kickl at 1000 GMT on Monday to "discuss the new situation".

"Voices within the OeVP that rule out working with.... Kickl have become significantly quieter," Van der Bellen told reporters.

"That means a new path may be opening up that did not previously exist," he said, adding that he will appoint a caretaker chancellor in the coming week.

In a press conference, Stocker welcomed the president's decision to hold talks with the far-right leader, whose party won almost 29 percent of the vote, but has so far been unable to find partners to form a national government.

- Far-right government 'highly likely' -

It was not immediately clear whether Van der Bellen would task the far-right leader with trying to form Austria's next government.

Van der Bellen had initially tasked the conservatives with forming a stable government that respects the "foundations of our liberal democracy".

In the past, he had voiced reservations about Kickl, whose party currently polls at around 35 percent.

Policial scientist Thomas Hofer told AFP that a coalition led by the far right with the conservatives as junior partners had become "highly likely". The OeVP "can't afford" snap elections, he argued.

Nehammer said Saturday that he had wanted to be "the force of the political centre in order to build a bulwark against the radicals".

Kickl, in a statement late Saturday after Nehammer's announcement that the talks had failed and he was stepping down, called the parties involved in the coalition talks "losers".

He added that "instead of stability, we have chaos" after three "wasted months".

The conservative People's Party came second with 26 percent in the September elections, while the centre-left Social Democrats (SPOe) gained 21 percent.

The OeVP has been part of government in the Alpine country of nine million since 1987.

It has governed several times with the FPOe as junior partners since 2000.

B.Khalifa--SF-PST