The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) announced that it would decide today on appointing its new leadership and the possibility of forming a new ruling coalition with the right-wing Freedom Party.

This follows the resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the party's leader tasked with forming a new government, from his roles as Prime Minister and party leader after coalition negotiations collapsed.

Sources within the party suggest three potential candidates for the leadership: Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, Secretary-General of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce; Jochen Danninger, a conservative leader and head of the party's parliamentary bloc in Lower Austria; and Karoline Edtstadler, a parliamentary member and Minister of Chancellery Affairs. However, a potential return of former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to party leadership is deemed unlikely unless new parliamentary elections are held.

By resigning yesterday evening, Karl Nehammer, leader of the People's Party, paved the way for selecting a new leader. Nehammer faced growing pressure from the party's economic wing and influential business and farmers' associations, which increasingly opposed forming a ruling coalition with the Socialist Party.

The latter, under its new leader Andreas Babler, has shifted significantly to the far left. Babler insisted during coalition talks on implementing new taxes on inheritances and the wealthy, along with higher corporate taxes, to address a substantial public budget deficit of approximately €24 billion. These demands ultimately led to the collapse of government formation negotiations.