There was no immediate comment from the People's Party (OeVP), with Nehammer merely telling reporters after a crisis meeting of the party's leadership on 5 January that "important and correct decisions" had been taken.
The surprising failure of the tripartite and then bipartisan talks aimed at assembling a centrist coalition to serve as a bulwark against the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) after it came first in September's parliamentary elections leaves President Alexander Van der Bellen with few options. A snap election with support still growing for the Eurosceptic and Russia-friendly FPOe, or a reversal in which Van der Bellen tasks Freedom Party leader Herbert Kikel with forming a government, are the most likely options, with limited options for alternatives or a game of timing.
"The situation is not easy. I think we have to do everything we can now to avoid falling into a national crisis," said Markus Wallner, governor of Vorarlberg state, ahead of the OeVP leadership meeting at the chancellor's office on the morning of 5 January.
Wallner said he was against early elections because this would delay for months the arrival of the new government.
A spokesman for Van der Bellen, the country's president, said he was due to address the nation at 2:45 p.m. (local time). Earlier, Nehamer crossed the road separating their offices to report to Van der Bellen on the OeVP leadership meeting.
During and after the election campaign, Nehammer insisted that his party would not govern with Kikel because he was too much of a conspiracy theorist and posed a security risk, while at the same time saying that much of Kikel's party was trustworthy.
Nehamer's successor is likely to be more open to a coalition with the FPOe, which is formally allied to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party. | BGNES
