Austria's new Cabinet greeted by chorus of boos

At least 2,000 angry protesters chanted anti-government slogans today as Austria’s president swore in a new centre-left chancellor and his Cabinet, a “grand coalition” forged more than three months after hard-fought elections.

The mid-morning ceremony in the ornate former imperial Hofburg Palace made Alfred Gusenbauer, whose Social Democrats narrowly won the October 1 vote, the country’s new head of government.

Gusenbauer and his conservative predecessor, Wolfgang Schuessel, agreed Monday to form the coalition after intense negotiations that bogged down for weeks.

Gusenbauer, 46, beamed as he shook hands with President Heinz Fischer after taking the oath of office, and his new Cabinet burst into applause.

But the mood was tense outside on the sprawling Heldenplatz, or Heroes’ Square, where police said at least 2,000 demonstrators – including Socialist youth who contend Gusenbauer sold out his party – gathered to denounce the coalition.

As the new ministers filed into the Hofburg, a loud chorus of “boos” and shrill whistles went up from the crowd, which held aloft anti-Gusenbauer banners.