The announcement on Saturday comes from the President after the FPÖ's soundings about leading a coalition government have failed, reports the Austrian public service company ORF.
Thus, the way is paved for the conservative ÖVP, the social democratic SPÖ, and the liberal party Neo to form a coalition government. The announcement came after a meeting the President had with the leaders of the three parties at the Vienna Hofburg Palace.
Expressing Hope
ÖVP party chairman Christian Stocker said he was "very confident" that the government negotiations would succeed, reports the Austrian news agency APA. SPÖ leader Andreas Babler expressed hope for achieving stability with a new coalition government in the turbulent political landscape "as soon as possible".
The election in Austria was held in September, but negotiations on a new government have since failed in several rounds.
Thus, the controversial far-right party FPÖ appears to be excluded from a future government. The differences with the intended cooperation partner, the conservative ÖVP, were considered too great on fundamental issues, such as foreign and security policy, for a government cooperation, according to ORF.
Prolonged Government Crisis
Head of State Van der Bellen has faced difficult choices in the prolonged government crisis – and the political differences were thought to lead to new elections in Austria. After the announcement from the three parties, the President expressed relief, especially considering the geopolitical situation. He stated that the first goal for a new government is to "create new trust" for the central government in Austria.
Furthermore, the prolonged government crisis has meant that decisions on the state budget must be made.
Observers in Austria viewed with skepticism the President's earlier decision to allow the national conservative, right-wing populist extremist party FPÖ (Freedom Party) and its controversial party leader Herbert Kickl to try to form a government – an attempt that failed.
