Chancellor Kurz faces allegations of corruption. He doesn’t think about resigning. Political scientists believe that the case will further fuel political polarization in Austria.
Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wants to remain in office despite the public prosecutor’s investigation into corruption.
This was confirmed by the head of government on Wednesday evening on the ORF news program “ZiB2”. There was absolutely no indication that he was personally involved in, for example, commissioning opinion polls that were favorable for him or in placing advertisements, said Kurz. “All of these allegations that exist are directed against employees of the Ministry of Finance.” The fact that polls were manipulated in his favor is absurd because dozens of polls in the 2016 period in question revealed very similar values for parties and politicians.
The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKSTA) had the Chancellery, the Ministry of Finance and the ÖVP headquarters searched on Wednesday. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating Kurz and some of his close confidants on suspicion of breach of trust, bribery and corruption. The team around the 35-year-old head of government is said to have bought positive reporting in a tabloid medium with tax money since 2016 in order to pave the way from Kurz to the party leadership and the Chancellery. A brief confidante in the Ministry of Finance is said to have played an important role in raising the funds.
The media group denies the allegations. At no point in time had there been an agreement between Mediengruppe AUSTRIA and the Ministry of Finance to pay for surveys through advertisements, the company said.
The Austrian political scientist Peter Filzmaier assumes that Kurz will be able to survive the investigation politically for the time being. Filzmaier said in “ZiB2” that he was holding on to his office, but would further fuel the polarization in the country. The most likely scenario is that politicians and the public will now spend months or even years – until the end of the proceedings – dealing with the question of whether the Chancellor is guilty or innocent. The greatest risks for Kurz are the behavior of the green coalition partner and that of the other accused. Should someone from this group testify in a negative way, a new situation would arise.
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