After the corruption allegations, the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz took the necessary steps. He announced his resignation in front of journalists. However, he does not want to withdraw completely from politics.
The Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has announced his resignation. He wanted to make room to prevent chaos and create stability, he told the press on Saturday evening. “In these difficult times, it should never be about personal interests or party interests. My country is more important to me than myself,” said Kurz. That is why he decided to give up his post as Federal Chancellor. With this step, Kurz responded to the recently raised allegations of bribery and corruption. Without the withdrawal, a break in the coalition between the ÖVP and the Greens would have threatened.
He proposed the current Foreign Minister, Alexander Schallenberger, as his successor. Kurz himself will return to parliament as parliamentary group and party leader of the ÖVP. Kurz continued to contradict the allegations made against him. “The allegations are wrong, I will be able to clear it up, I am deeply convinced of that,” he said.
Instead, Kurz made serious accusations against the Greens. The coalition partner had decided to “take a clear position against me” and thus brought about a “stalemate”. This attitude is “irresponsible” because Austria is risking “sliding into months of chaos or stagnation”. “What we need now are stable conditions, so I would like to make room in order to resolve the stalemate,” said Kurz.
Resignation initially rejected
The Federal Chancellery and the party headquarters of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) were searched on Wednesday. According to the public prosecutor’s office for business and corruption, Kurz’s close colleagues are suspected of having bought well-meaning reporting in a media company in order to pave the way for Kurz to become party leaders and the Federal Chancellery from 2016 onwards. For this money from the Ministry of Finance is said to have been misappropriated. The investigators see in Kurz a participant in the crimes of infidelity and corruption.
On Friday evening, Kurz had refused to resign despite mounting pressure. The allegations against him were “simply wrong,” he said. At the same time he emphasized “that we as a team of the People’s Party in the government are able to act and, above all, are willing to act”.
Coalition partners questioned the ability to officiate
Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen then questioned the government’s ability to act. He spoke of a “moral image that is not good for democracy”. Vice Chancellor and Green Leader Werner Kogler also called on the ÖVP to nominate another Federal Chancellor.
Before Kurz’s resignation was announced on Saturday, the parliamentary groups held talks about an alternative leadership in the country. According to information from the Austrian news agency APA, the Greens no longer ruled out cooperation with the right-wing populist FPÖ. The head of the social democratic SPÖ, Rendi-Wagner, did not rule out an alliance of four made up of the Greens, the FPÖ and the liberal Neos and the FPÖ.
The Greens, as coalition partners of the ÖVP, had declared Kurz no longer fit for office and demanded his withdrawal – as a condition for the continuation of the cooperation. If Kurz had not resigned, opposition parties would have tabled a vote of no confidence on Tuesday. A few votes from the Greens would have been enough for a majority.
Coalition remains
“In view of the current situation, I think this is the right step for future government work with responsibility for Austria and Austria’s reputation abroad,” said Greens boss and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler on Saturday evening. The Greens welcomed the resignation of Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and signaled the continuation of the coalition.
The conservative-green government under Kurz was sworn in at the beginning of 2020. Before that, Kurz had ruled with the right-wing FPÖ from 2017 to 2019. The 52-year-old Schallenberg has been jointly responsible for Austria’s foreign policy in top positions for years. The multilingual, internationally experienced diplomat is just as tough on migration issues as Kurz.
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