|
  |
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New far-right coalition in Austria
VIENNA, Austria (Reuters) -- Austria's conservative government has struck a deal to revive the governing coalition with Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party that collapsed late last year. Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel told reporters after a meeting of his People's Party's executive committee that the party leadership had "unanimously approved" a list of ministers and coalition program. The full list of proposed ministers was not yet available, but Schuessel said Karl-Heinz Grasser, the outspoken critic of the European Central Bank and staunch supporter of tight fiscal policy, would keep his post in the new cabinet. The leaders of the Freedom Party also approved the proposed cabinet and program, which now only needs the signature of President Thomas Klestil. Klestil's spokesman said the government could be sworn in later on Friday. "The chancellor gave the president the list of ministers and program and is studying them now," spokesman Meinhard Rauchensteiner told Reuters. "If the two parties and the president agree, the government can be sworn in today." Schuessel's party, which won a landslide 42 percent in the November 24 snap election, opened negotiations earlier this week with the party that Haider led for 15 years until 2000, when it entered a coalition with Schuessel. Most ministers are expected to keep their posts in the new government. In September, Grasser and Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer resigned from the cabinet and brought an end to the coalition after Haider led a revolt in the Freedom Party over a dispute about Grasser's decision to delay promised tax cuts. Grasser had chosen to delay the tax reforms to help the government pay for the billions of euros of damage caused by massive flooding in August 2002. "Karl-Heinz Grasser will now be an independent finance minister in the government," Schuessel said. The controversial Freedom Party has threatened to attempt to veto Czech entry into the European Union due to disputes about a Czech nuclear power plant near the Austrian border and Prague's refusal to repeal a series of post-war decrees that led to the expulsion of millions of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia. Grasser had never supported the Freedom Party's position against EU enlargement. The entry of Haider's party into the government in March 2000 prompted the European Union and United States to impose sanctions against Austria. Although he is no longer Freedom Party chairman, Haider is believed to carry a great deal of influence with the party's current leaders. He is presently governor of the south Austrian province of Carinthia. Schuessel's decision to renew the coalition with the far-right followed unsuccessful talks with the opposition Social Democrats and Greens, which collapsed on sticking points such as privatisation and fiscal policy. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
