
(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, JAN 3 - Austria's three-way coalition talks to form a new government failed on Friday, with the head of the liberal party announcing its withdrawal from the negotiations. The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped September 29 national polls for the first time ever, 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. However, the FPOe has been unable to find partners to form a national government. That left outgoing conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer in talks with the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS party to form a government in the Alpine EU member state, which is home to nine million people. In a hastily arranged press conference on Friday, NEOS head Beate Meinl-Reisinger said that she had informed President Alexander Van der Bellen that her party "will not continue the negotiations" after little progress was made on crucial reforms. But Meinl-Reisinger offered parliamentary support to the two other parties, adding that "we are not saying no to reforms, to the compromises that have already been reached". A three-party governing coalition would have been a first since 1949 in Austria, which faces a flagging economy as well as a ballooning budget deficit. Nehammer had said that the coalition talks, which began in October, would be an uphill task. It has taken an average of 62 days to form a government in Austria after elections. (ANSA-AFP).