Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday that he would resign in the coming days after negotiations on the formation of a new government failed.
The announcement comes after the People’s Party and the Social Democrats continued coalition negotiations, a day after the surprise withdrawal of the liberal Neos party from the discussions.
“Unfortunately, I have to announce to you today that the negotiations are over and that the People’s Party will not continue them,” said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the conservative People’s Party. said in a statement on social media.
He said that “destructive forces” within the Social Democratic Party have “taken over” and that the People’s Party will not adhere to a program contrary to economic competitiveness.
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Social Democratic leader Andreas Babler regretted the People’s Party’s decision to end the negotiations. “This is not a good decision for our country,” he said.
Babler said one of the main stumbling blocks was how to fix the “record deficit” left by the previous government.
“I proposed to Karl Nehammer and the People’s Party to continue negotiations and I called on them not to stand up,” he told journalists on Saturday evening.
The next Austrian government will face the challenge of having to save between 18 and 24 billion euros, according to the European Commission. Furthermore, Austria has been in recession for two years, experiencing rising unemployment and its budget deficit currently stands at 3.7% of gross domestic product – above the EU limit of 3%. .
Negotiations have dragged on since the Austrian president tasked the conservative chancellor in October with forming a new government. This request came after all other parties refused to work with the party leader. Far-right Freedom Party, which won national elections in September for the first time with 29.2% of the votes.