(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, OCT 22 - Austria's president on Tuesday
tasked conservative leader Karl Nehammer with trying to form a
government with the Social Democrats, saying the far right was
unable to "find a coalition partner" following its historic
election win. The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped
September 29 national polls for the first time, winning 28.8
percent of the vote, ahead of the ruling conservative People's
Party (OeVP) with 26.3 percent. The centre-left Social Democrats
(SPOe) came third with 21.1 percent. So far all parliamentary
parties have excluded working with the FPOe under its radical
leader Herbert Kickl, creating stalemate in the Alpine country.
The decision by President Alexander Van der Bellen to tap the
conservatives came after talks between the country's three
strongest parties on potential future cooperation had yielded no
results. (ANSA-AFP).
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