Status: 02.12.2021 10:20 a.m.
Corruption allegations had already forced Sebastian Kurz to resign as Austria’s Chancellor, now the ÖVP boss wants to resign from all of his other offices, according to media reports.
According to media reports, the Austrian ex-chancellor and current ÖVP boss Sebastian Kurz is withdrawing completely from politics. Interior Minister Karl Nehammer is said to be the new ÖVP boss.
As the “Krone” newspaper reports, Kurz justifies his decision with the birth of his son a few days ago. In the course of the morning he wants to make a personal statement.
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Kurz resigned as head of government in October after corruption investigators searched the Chancellery and the ÖVP headquarters, among other things. Kurz and some of his close political colleagues are suspected by the prosecutor of having circulated manipulated polls in the media. Public funds are said to have been diverted for this. Among other things, the allegation of infidelity is in the room. Kurz, who denies the allegations, moved to parliament after resigning as group leader. He also remained chairman of the ÖVP.
In mid-November Austria’s parliament voted for Kurz’s immunity to be lifted in order to enable the allegations to be clarified quickly.
Kurz had previously had a steep career. At 27 he became Foreign Minister, at 31 Chancellor. His first term as head of government ended in 2019 after corruption allegations surfaced against the coalition partners of the right-wing FPÖ. In the course of coming to terms with the so-called Ibiza scandal, investigators also examined chats from the ÖVP environment, which Kurz ultimately brought down.