VIENNA (AP) — Austria's president has given center-right leader Sebastian Kurz the job of forming a new government after his party emerged as the strongest by far from an election a week ago.

The 33-year-old Kurz received the mandate Monday from President Alexander Van der Bellen, kicking off what could be the lengthy process of putting together a new governing coalition.

The non-partisan interim government of Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein, installed after a scandal surrounding the far-right Freedom Party brought down Kurz's previous government in May, will remain in place until a new administration is ready.

Kurz's People's Party can choose between reviving its previous coalition with the Freedom Party. Or it can form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, a familiar and unloved combination that has frequently run Austria or it can ally with the resurgent Greens.