Former Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer retires from politics

Karl Nehammer, who resigned as Austrian chancellor last week after failed attempts to form a coalition government without the far right, is retiring from national politics, the Austrian news agency APA announced on Saturday. Nehammer will formally announce that he is leaving the National Council, the lower house of parliament, by the start of the new parliamentary session on January 22, a government spokeswoman told APA.

Nehammer became chancellor in December 2021. His political ambitions hit a wall in parliamentary elections in September when his conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) finished in second place, behind the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).

Months of negotiations on the establishment of a government with the parties of the center finally failed at the beginning of September. Nehammer resigned, and Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl received a mandate to try to form a government.

Although Nehammer rejected the possibility of the People’s Party ruling with the far right, the party’s new leader Christian Stocker said he was ready to negotiate with Kickl.

The position of Prime Minister is held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Schallenberg, in a technical mandate.