VIENNA: Talks between Austria’s two centrist coalition parties aimed at setting policy priorities and averting a government collapse are making progress but could drag into the weekend, Chancellor Christian Kern said on Friday.
Kern, a Social Democrat, said on Tuesday he wanted an agreement on concrete policies for the remaining year and a half of the coalition’s term, suggesting that failure to reach a deal by then would mean the end of the coalition and prompt a snap parliamentary election.
He has since rowed back on those comments, saying there will be no snap election, but the two sides have continued to hold all-day meetings aimed at hammering out an agreement that have run into the small hours.
A snap election would most likely play into the hands of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which is running first in opinion polls, helped by widespread frustration at a coalition government that many voters believe is ineffective.
“Little time remains for what we hope to achieve and it could very well be that this lasts beyond the coming day,” Kern told reporters as talks broke after midnight. “There was progress on some points. There was no progress on others.”
Kern, who took over as head of the government in May, has sought to project a more modern and dynamic image than his predecessor Werner Faymann, who resigned after an FPO candidate won the first round of the presidential election.
Kern, a Social Democrat, said on Tuesday he wanted an agreement on concrete policies for the remaining year and a half of the coalition’s term, suggesting that failure to reach a deal by then would mean the end of the coalition and prompt a snap parliamentary election.
He has since rowed back on those comments, saying there will be no snap election, but the two sides have continued to hold all-day meetings aimed at hammering out an agreement that have run into the small hours.
A snap election would most likely play into the hands of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which is running first in opinion polls, helped by widespread frustration at a coalition government that many voters believe is ineffective.
“Little time remains for what we hope to achieve and it could very well be that this lasts beyond the coming day,” Kern told reporters as talks broke after midnight. “There was progress on some points. There was no progress on others.”
Kern, who took over as head of the government in May, has sought to project a more modern and dynamic image than his predecessor Werner Faymann, who resigned after an FPO candidate won the first round of the presidential election.
