VIENNA, 4 (DPA/EP)
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) reaffirmed this Friday its willingness to negotiate a possible coalition government with the conservatives of the Austrian People’s Party (OVP) after the failure of the first round of negotiations.
The talks have been blown up this Friday once the centrist New Austria and Liberal Forum (Neos, for its acronym in German) has abandoned the process due to an alleged lack of commitments from its interlocutors on budgetary issues.
“Our hand remains extended,” said the leader of the SPO, Andreas Babler, leaving in the hands of the chancellor and leader of the OVP, Karl Nehammer, the decision to continue with bilateral negotiations to leave out the extreme right, winner of the elections. .
Babler has demanded that the necessary budget consolidation not fall on workers, pensioners and civil servants, but on the richest sectors of the population. This grand coalition would have a narrow majority of one vote in Parliament.
From the ÖVP’s point of view, the SPÖ is primarily responsible for the failure of the trilogue talks.
“While parts of the Social Democratic Party have participated constructively, in recent days the retrograde forces of the SPÖ have prevailed,” said ÖVP general secretary Christian Stocker.
For her part, the leader of Neos, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, has reaffirmed that the will for necessary reform did not arise. “We have always had one goal: to do more than the minimum,” he said.
The departure of Neos from the negotiations has ruined a process that began in mid-November and that could produce a government never before seen in Austria that would certify the “cordon sanitaire” to the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO).
Precisely, the FPO has vindicated its opposition to what it has described as a “political aberration” of a red-green-yellow coalition government.
“Karl Nehammer has ignored all these concerns because, in reality, he only cares about one thing: his own position as chancellor,” he asserted, after calling for his resignation.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has also urged them to negotiate among themselves “without delay.” “I want clarity, quick and complete clarity,” he said.
POSSIBILITY OF NEW ELECTIONS
If a coalition between the ÖVP and SPÖ cannot be formed, the option of calling new elections is being considered, in which the right-wing populists could obtain a decisive result.
According to the latest polls, the FPÖ would experience a notable increase in its support, going from the 29% obtained in the National Council elections to around 35%.
The three-way negotiations were marked by a disagreement over the development of a new budget.
In the midst of an economic crisis, Austria faces pressure to make severe cuts to meet European Union (EU) financial stability criteria.
Any Austrian government that comes to power will have to address enormous challenges, which will require an effectively functioning coalition.
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