Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has declared the coalition talks between his ÖVP and the SPÖ to have failed and announced personal consequences. After the breakdown of the negotiations, he will remain true to his “convictions” and withdraw as Chancellor and party chairman in the coming days to enable a smooth transition, Nehammer said in a video message on “X” on Saturday evening.
“We have negotiated in good faith for a long time. However, it has not been possible to reach an agreement with the SPÖ on essential points” said the ÖVP chief about the failed negotiations. The People’s Party stands by its promises: “We will not agree to performance- and economy-damaging measures or new taxes. Therefore, we are ending the negotiations with the SPÖ and will not continue them” Nehammer said.
Earlier, the Neos had already left the negotiating table with ÖVP and SPÖ. The liberal party around Beate Meinl-Reisinger had informed the negotiating partners and President Alexander Van der Bellen of their withdrawal from the talks on Friday morning. Observers assume that the pension policy was the sticking point.
In the September national election, the right-wing populist FPÖ had become the strongest force in parliament for the first time with 28 percent of the vote. The conservative ÖVP achieved 26 percent, followed by the social democratic SPÖ with 21 percent. However, neither the ÖVP nor the SPÖ wanted to cooperate with FPÖ chief Herbert Kickl. Consequently, ÖVP, SPÖ, and Neos started coalition talks in November.