Austria’s president tasks centre-right with forming government

Far-right Freedom Party came top in last month’s election but other parties have refused to govern with them.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has tasked Chancellor Karl Nehammer, leader of the conservative People’s Party (OVP), with forming a government over the objections of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won last month’s general election.

The eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO came out top in the election on September 29 for the first time in its history. But with about 29 percent of the vote, it would need to assemble a coalition to command a majority in parliament and form a government.

FPO leader Herbert Kickl has said he would be chancellor in an FPO-led government but other parties have ruled out governing with him. Van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of governments, said those parties had stood by their positions on that.

“The parliamentary election on September 29 is not a race in which the party that crosses the finish line first automatically gets to form the government,” the 80-year-old president said in a televised address on Tuesday.

“If a party wants to govern alone, it must clear the 50 percent hurdle. It is not sufficient to reach 10, 20 or 30 percent.”