Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has announced the resignation of his coalition government after three ministers from far-right partner the Freedom Party stepped down.
The chancellor said he would ask the leadership of his conservative People's Party to call for early elections to be held "as soon as possible".
Mr Schuessel said at a press conference he could no longer govern the country with the Freedom Party.
He said he would recommend to his party tomorrow evening that parliament be dissolved at the earliest possible date, which is September 19th.
He said he expected fresh elections would take place in late November or early December.
Mr Schuessel said it was impossible to continue ruling in a stable way with the Freedom Party after an internal revolt led by its leader, Mr Jorg Haider, that forced the resignation of Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer and Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser.
Mr Haider had earlier told Austrian broadcaster ORF the coalition between his party and Mr Schuessel's could not avoid early elections after the ministers' resignations.
AFP