Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen swore in a new three-party government on Monday, the 3rd of March, ending five months of political deadlock following the victory of the far-right party in last September’s elections, reports Politico.
Christian Stocker, leader of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), will be prime minister, while the centre-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos party will also be part of the coalition government.
“Good things come to those who wait,” van der Bellen said at the start of his speech, thanking the parties for “going out of their comfort zone for the good of the whole country” to form a coalition.
With this alliance, the centre-right parties prevented the far-right, pro-Russian Freedom Party (FPÖ) from coming to power, even though it won the most votes in the elections.
Initial talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos tried to form a government and stop the far right. However, in early January these talks failed due to major disagreements on fiscal policy.
As a result, the far-right leader, Herbert Kickl, received a mandate from the President to form a government.
Kickl had hoped to govern with the ÖVP, but the conservatives had no desire to be the FPÖ’s junior partner because of Kickl’s demands for radical tax cuts, increasing Austria’s debt and reining in EU fiscal policy, which were at odds with the pro-European ÖVP’s policies.
In mid-February these talks also failed, forcing the leader of the conservative party, Stocker, to return to the original three-party formula.
The resulting coalition agreement includes a budget compromise that seeks to balance fiscal consolidation with investment in social welfare and economic growth.
Austria’s new government sworn in, ending five months political crisis
