BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s main center-right party and the environmentalist Greens are likely to announce a coalition deal Wednesday night that would return ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to power.
The 33-year-old Kurz’s People’s Party embarked on negotiations with the Greens in mid-November, weeks after it emerged as by far the biggest party from an election. In that vote in September, the Greens, who haven’t previously been part of a federal government in Austria, saw their support soar and returned to parliament after a two-year absence.
The two parties have a combined 97 seats in Austria’s 183-seat parliament. Kurz’s return to power would see him take back the title of the world’s youngest sitting head of government from new , who is 34.
Assuming the coalition talks are successful, the new Austrian government is likely to be significantly different from Kurz’s previous alliance with the far-right Freedom Party.
Kurz led a coalition with the Freedom Party for 17 months until May, when a video showing then-Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache offering favors to a purported Russian investor prompted Kurz to pull the plug.
Parliament then ousted Kurz in a no-confidence vote. Austria has since been run by a non-partisan interim government under Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein.