"Unusual case"

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(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen sees an "unusual case" and a stalemate after talks with all party leaders on forming a government. He is therefore breaking with the tradition of giving the party with the most votes the mandate to form a government. Instead, the FPÖ, ÖVP and SPÖ should talk to each other.

The ÖVP and former Chancellor Karl Nehammer had advised the President in advance to give FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl the task of forming a government as the winner of the election so that his voters would not feel cheated. Van der Bellen did not do this - as many observers had expected. He justified this by saying that no one wanted to form a coalition with Kickl and that there was therefore a "stalemate".

"Nobody has enough trust in Kickl"
"The question now is how we can get out of this stalemate if no one has enough confidence in Herbert Kickl to form a coalition with him. Who is he supposed to sound out, let alone negotiate with?" the Head of State continued. A negotiating mandate would therefore be "empty kilometers".

Van der Bellen passed the ball back to the parties on Wednesday.(Bild: AFP)

"Austria needs clarity"
"Austria needs clarity and not empty kilometers," said Van der Bellen. In the past, it had been customary for the winner of the election to be tasked by the Federal President with leading government negotiations. "However, this is an unusual case. It is completely new that none of the others want to govern with the election winner," said Van der Bellen.

Van der Bellen is thus passing the ball back to the parties. The party leaders Herbert Kickl, Karl Nehammer and Andreas Babler should now talk to each other and sound out what is possible. He will then invite them back to the Hofburg for talks, said the head of state.