Christian Stocker succeeds Nehammer as acting Austrian chancellor

The Executive of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) this Sunday appointed the general secretary of the party Christian Stocker, acting president of the formation and will also assume the position of chancellor of the country after the resignation on Saturday of Karl Nehammer.

Nehammer resigned following the failure of negotiations between the ÖVP and the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) for the formation of a coalition government after the withdrawal of the liberal party NEOS from the table, reports Austrian public television ÖRF.

Conservatives and Social Democrats blame each other for the end of the negotiations, although the SPÖ advocates resuming contacts due to “state responsibility.”

The resignation of Nehammer, contrary to agreeing with the most voted party, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), unleashed speculation about a possible succession that would open the door to negotiations with the FPÖ and there was even talk of the possibility of the return to the party of Sebastian Kurz, who already governed with the support of the FPÖ between 2017 and 2019.

However, Kurz is not interested in returning to the position after Nehammer’s departure, as sources close to him have confirmed to the DPA agency.

The Austrian president, Alexander van der Bellen, is the one who now has to make the decision, with the most likely options being the formation of a coalition government between the FPÖ and the ÖVP or calling early elections.