Sebastian Kurz has stepped down as Chancellor of Austria tonight, but that doesn’t mean his days as the most powerful man in Austrian politics are numbered. He will hand over his position to his foreign minister and will lead his Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) from parliament.
Everything indicates that the 35-year-old former ‘wonderboy’, the youngest European head of government ever, is determined to continue fighting for power from within parliament.
In the six minutes in which he explained his resignation, he never looked beaten. He denied that he did anything wrong, announced that he will prove it, emphasized that he has devoted his whole life “to contribute to Austria” and stated that he only cares about “our beautiful country to serve”.
False Accusations
The text messages that are seen as indications of his corruption, he says he wrote in the heat of the battle, which would explain that they give the wrong impression. “I am also a human being with emotions and mistakes.”
He added that what has happened to many top politicians in recent years has happened to him: being overloaded with unjustified accusations. The difference between him and the others is that his coalition partner, the Greens, does not want to continue with him, leaving him no choice but to step aside.
Satisfying
Kurz expressed his gratitude for the support from the population. According to him, many people have told him that he should not let this happen, but it is not about him, it is about Austria, he said. Because, according to him, the attitude of the Greens threatens chaos.
He pointed out that he still has the full support of his own party and that without it there is only a multi-party coalition with the support of the right-wing populist FPÖ – something he invokes as a specter, although he had partnered with that party in 2017 formed his first cabinet.
very strong
The fact that his own party is behind him makes his position very strong. Under Kurz’s leadership, the ÖVP became by far the largest party in 2019 with more than 37 percent of the vote, with 15 percentage points more than the second party, the Social Democratic SPÖ.
In the polls, the ÖVP has fallen a bit lately, but the decline is not dramatic and the ÖVP still has a lead of more than ten percentage points over the SPÖ.
Also, there are no signs of internal party opposition to Kurz. He has systematically strengthened his position in recent years by appointing loyalists everywhere who depend on him. It is also significant that in August he was re-elected as party leader at a party conference with 99.4 percent of the vote.
Political animal
Kurz doesn’t seem like the guy to give up either. He is a typical political animal. He has fought for his political career all his life. He wanted to join the ÖVP at the age of sixteen, he broke off his law studies to go into politics, and since then politics has been all he has been involved in.
He is so focused on politics that he seems to lead a decidedly dull private life. He still lives in the Vienna quarter where he was born, in a 65 square meter apartment, and is still with the girlfriend he met in high school.
Politics is everything to Sebastian Kurz. A life outside of politics seems unthinkable. In his speech, he said he hopes to regain the confidence of the Greens. Perhaps they will eventually have to determine that without Kurz it is impossible to rule.
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