Austria's conservatives tasked with forming government

(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, OCT 22 - Austria's president on Tuesday tasked conservative leader Karl Nehammer with trying to form a government with the Social Democrats, saying the far right was unable to "find a coalition partner" following its historic election win. The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped September 29 national polls for the first time, 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. So far all parliamentary parties have excluded working with the FPOe under its radical leader Herbert Kickl, creating stalemate in the Alpine country.
    The decision by President Alexander Van der Bellen to tap the conservatives came after talks between the country's three strongest parties on potential future cooperation had yielded no results. (ANSA-AFP).