Austria’s conservatives choose interim leader after chancellor quits By Reuters

Written by Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s opposition has chosen Secretary-General Christian Stocker as the interim successor to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austrian media reported on Sunday, after Nehammer stepped down in his bid to forming a federal government without a major right is collapsing.

There was no immediate comment from the People’s Party (OVP), and Nehammer only told reporters after the party’s crisis leadership meeting on Sunday that “important and correct decisions” had been taken.

The stunning collapse of three-party and two-party talks aimed at putting together a centrist coalition that could serve as a bulwark against the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) after the FPO ahead of the parliamentary elections in September leaves President Alexander Van der Bellen. with several options.

A quick election with support for the eurosceptic FPO, a growing Russia or a situation close to where Van der Bellen gives FPO leader Herbert Kickl by forming a government are now possible options, which have only limited space for other modes or play. time.

“It’s not an easy situation,” Markus Wallner, the governor of Vorarlberg, the westernmost of Austria’s nine provinces, told reporters before the OVP leadership meeting at the chancellor’s office on Sunday morning.

“I believe we must do everything we can now to avoid falling into a national crisis.”

Wallner said he opposes snap elections as that would delay the formation of a new government by months. OVP governors are part of the leadership.

Van der Bellen’s spokesman said he was due to address the public at 2:45 pm (1345 GMT). Nehammer crossed the road that separates their offices earlier to report to Van der Bellen about the OVP leadership meeting.

Nehammer insisted during and after the election campaign that his party would not govern with Kickl because he was a conspirator and posed a security risk while at the time who said that most of Kickl’s party is loyal.

Nehammer’s successor will have the opportunity to collaborate with the FPO, which is officially affiliated with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party.

BELIEVE SUPPORT FPO

The FPO won the September election with almost 29% of the vote, and opinion polls suggest that its support has grown since then, extending its lead over the OVP and the Social Democrats. more than 10 percent when their support is reduced.

The OVP and the FPO meet on various issues, especially taking a hard line on immigration, until the FPO accuses the OVP of stealing its ideas.

The two ruled together from the end of 2017 until 2019, when a video scandal involving the then leader of the FPO led to the collapse of their organization. At the federal level, they govern together in five of the nine provinces, including the moderate OVP of Wallner’s Vorarlberg.

The power of the country is now different because if they were to form an alliance, the OVP would for the first time be a junior partner in the FPO, which makes the position of the leader of the OVP difficult and not beloved by many.

After initial media reports that household names such as former party leader Sebastian Kurz, who led the last coalition with the FPO and has since been convicted of perjury, could become the leader of the OVP, Austrian media it reported overnight that they were gone.

That left lesser-known figures such as Secretary-General of the Chamber of Commerce Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, 45.

Meanwhile, the FPO published its message.

“Austria needs Chancellor Kickl now,” said X.