Austria’s president on Friday gave the green light to conservative leader Kurz, whose People’s Party (OVP) secured 31.5 percent of the vote in last week’s parliamentary election, to form a government. “The Austrians expect that there is quickly a strong and stable government which takes up work,” Kurz was quoted as saying by Austria’s Kronen Zeitung. “That means that negotiations should be concluded in less than 60 days.”Kurz campaigned on a platform that combined a hard line on immigration similar to that of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) with traditional conservative principles like slimming down the state and cutting taxes. To form his coalition, only two of Austria’s parliamentary parties, the Social Democrats (SPO) and FPO, have enough seats to give Kurz a majority if they go into coalition with the OVP. “But now I will conclude these talks on Sunday, and then take up coalition negotiations with a partner.”

Source: bd News24 October 22, 2017 11:26 UTC