By Francois Murphy
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s conservative People’s Party (OVP) and Social Democrats (SPO) said on Friday they had widened their talks aimed at forming a coalition government to include the small, liberal Neos party so as to have a solid majority in parliament.
The move returns to the three-way format used in the first coalition talks after September’s parliamentary election, which the far-right Freedom Party won with around 29% of the vote. After that first centrist attempt collapsed, the FPO was tasked with forming a government, and it said last week it had failed.
The OVP and SPO would together have a majority of just one seat in the lower house, which is widely seen as too small to be viable, hence the decision to bring a smaller party on board. Party officials have said talks are making rapid progress and could reach an agreement next week.
“It is clear that there will be statements from the parties on the status of the talks this evening,” the three parties said in a joint statement, adding that their leaders would not visit President Alexander Van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of governments, on Friday as had been widely speculated.
In the evening, they issued a joint statement saying their talks will continue on Saturday and they will brief Van der Bellen at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT) that day, after which statements to the media would be issued.
Earlier on Friday, Van der Bellen issued a short written statement repeating a call for parties to embrace the spirit of compromise and calling on them to work for the greater good.
“A functioning democracy requires the courage to defend opinions but also the wisdom to find solutions through compromise,” he said, suggesting the talks were now encountering some difficulty.
While the Neos were formally part of the first talks from early on, negotiating policies in all areas of government, they appeared to have a more limited role this time. Various media reported they had been offered the education ministry and either the foreign or justice ministries.
Van der Bellen said after the FPO-led effort collapsed that four options remained: a snap election, which cannot be held sooner than in about three months; a minority government; a fresh stab at forming a coalition that could command a majority; or a temporary government of experts.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Ros Russell and Marguerita Choy)
