VIENNA: The leadership of Austria's ruling conservatives held a crisis meeting on Sunday to pick a successor to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who announced his resignation on Saturday as attempts to form a coalition government without the far right fell apart. More than two hours after the meeting began, several Austrian media reported that People's Party (OVP) Secretary-General Christian Stocker, 64, would take over as party leader in an interim capacity. There was no immediate comment from the party.
The surprise collapse of three- and then two-party talks aimed at cobbling together a centrist coalition that could serve as a bulwark against the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) after the FPO came first in September's parliamentary election leaves President Alexander Van der Bellen with few options. A snap election with support for the eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO still growing or an about-face in which Van der Bellen tasks FPO leader Herbert Kickl with forming a government are now the most likely options, with only limited scope for alternatives or playing for time. — Reuters
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