Austria's Kurz tasked with forming new gov't

Source: Xinhua| 2019-10-07 20:20:39|Editor: huaxia
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VIENNA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Leader of Austria's conservative People's Party Sebastian Kurz has on Monday been officially tasked with the formation of a new government by President Alexander Van der Bellen.

His party took first place following last month's election, gaining 37.5 percent of the votes, which puts it in the box seat to form the next coalition government.

While negotiations over the next grouping of parties to form the coalition could take some time, Van der Bellen said Monday after holding talks with the major parties that he is confident the People's Party will be able to form a new government.

Kurz said he will begin talks with the leaders of the other parties this week, with no indication of how long negotiations could potentially take.

The Freedom Party itself is in a significantly weakened position, having lost about 10 percent of its 2017 votes to see it land on 16.2 percent. Several of its own officials have already spoken out against a renewed coalition due to the significant election setback.

The Greens party, the big winners of the election that recovered about 10 percent of the votes from its poor 2017 showing to reach a total of just under 14 percent, are considered a good chance to be a coalition partner, according to local media.

Kurz's tough stance of immigration could however become a sticking point, and may require a compromise with the left-wing Greens, it was reported.

The centre-left Social Democrats, a long-standing "grand coalition" partner of the People's Party who took 21 percent of the votes, are considered less likely to become a coalition partner due to internal differences, said local media.

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