Opposition plans no-confidence motion against Austrian government

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - Austria's Social Democratic Party, SPO, plans to table a motion of no confidence against the government in the upcoming parliamentary session on Wednesday, the party leadership said in a press release Tuesday.

The reason given by SPO party leader Andreas Babler is that the governing coalition of the conservative Austrian People's Party, or OVP, and the Greens have failed in the fight against inflation.

The Social Democrats are meeting today in preparation for the no-confidence motion. The agenda of the meeting has been given as "Out of the inflation crisis, towards justice."

The SPO accuses the government of failure in all areas. Inflation is rising, the economy is shrinking, and corporations are posting record profits, while more and more people in Austria can no longer afford to live, the SPO says.

According to the Social Democrats, Austria is in a "social crisis." Now a shrinking economy and higher unemployment rates are also adding to the problem, it said.

"There is danger ahead if we let the government continue to operate," Babler added.

The recent downward trend in inflation in Austria was interrupted in August by an inflation rate of 7.4%, mainly because of skyrocketing costs for fuels, the statistics office Statistics Austria announced on Tuesday.

This means that price inflation in Austria has been consistently above the 5% mark since January 2022.