retreat
The era ends in short: Austria’s conservatives are looking for new leadership
Sebastian Kurz withdraws from politics. (Archive image) Photo: Herbert Neubauer / APA / dpa
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Political star Short is history. Chancellor successor Schallenberg is also about to resign after only a few weeks in office. The ÖVP wants to close the gaps quickly.
Austria is facing another change at the top of the government. On Friday, the board of the conservative ÖVP in Vienna will advise who will lead the party and the chancellery in personal union in the future.
On Thursday, party leader and ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz surprisingly announced his complete withdrawal from politics. The politician, who was very popular until recently, triggered a personal domino effect, which now makes it necessary to reorganize the government team.
In October, Kurz resigned as Chancellor in the course of corruption investigations against him and his closest colleagues, but remained party leader. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg moved up to the top of the government. Only a few weeks later, this choreography was repeated in the opposite direction: Kurz resigned as ÖVP boss on Thursday. Schallenberg then announced that he would make his office available as Chancellor. Schallenberg’s reasoning: the party and the Chancellery should again be in one hand, but he himself has no ambition for this dual function.
In addition, the ÖVP also needs a new finance minister after the incumbent and short friend Gernot Blümel announced his retirement from politics on Thursday evening.
Nehammer with good chances
According to consistent media reports, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer has a good chance of becoming chancellor and party. In contrast to Schallenberg, he is very well networked in the ÖVP. Among other things, Nehammer enjoys the support of the influential Prime Minister of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, who openly stood up for him on Thursday. The former professional soldier and long-time party functionary Nehammer, like Kurz, stands for a tough stance against illegal migration and radical Islamist currents.
The Greens, who govern as junior partners in the coalition with the ÖVP, have different views on these issues, but the Green Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler has already signaled that he would have no problem with Nehammer as Chancellor.