Austria's Greens look set to take on four ministries, including the environment portfolio, a representative said Monday as talks to form a government with conservatives neared an end. An alliance under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the People's Party (OeVP) would mark the first time ecologists enter government on a national level.
The conservatives' previous coalition with the far-right broke apart owing to a corruption scandal earlier this year, triggering fresh elections in September where both the OeVP and the Greens made gains. Kurz, 33, and Greens chief Werner Kogler, 58, said Sunday that they aimed to conclude talks by the middle of the week, and the Greens have scheduled a party congress for Saturday to approve any result.
No details have been revealed as to a programme the two disparate parties might present, but first details regarding ministerial posts emerged Monday. Green politician Leonore Gewessler is to head a new environment ministry, which would also comprise traffic, infrastructure, energy and technology, a party representative who declined to be named owing to the ongoing investigations, told AFP.
The Greens - which celebrated their best results ever in the September polls with 13.9 percent - would also get three other ministries, the representative said while declining to comment further. Media reports have said they could be the justice, social and women's ministries, while the OeVP would take the rest, including the coveted interior and finance ministries.
Kurz, whose party is known for a tough approach to immigration, gained 37.5 percent of the vote in September. He said on Twitter that "a young and very experienced integration expert" named Susanne Raab would take on a newly created integration ministry.
Raab was one of those working on the ban on face-covering burqa or niqab veils that was introduced in 2017. Negotiations are expected to conclude on Wednesday with details of the government programme being presented on Thursday.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019
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