Chancellor asked to form new government after parties snub far-right leader

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has been asked to form a new government (AP)

Current Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has been tasked with forming a new government after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which last month won a national election for the first time.

The Freedom Party finished first in the September 29 poll with 28.8% of the vote, ahead of Mr Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party, which took 26.3%.