Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz announced his resignation in a speech on Saturday night. It happens after the police acted against his office on Wednesday.
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The case immediately led to a deep political crisis in Austria, and on Saturday Kurz threw away the cards.
– The country is more important than my person, said Kurz, who expressed that he wanted the government cooperation between his conservative party ÖVP and the Greens to continue without him.
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg takes over as Prime Minister.
Must have bought a positive review
Kurz has been under strong pressure after the police operation on Wednesday, which included both the prime minister’s office and the offices of his conservative party ÖVP.
The suspicion is that Kurz and some of his closest associates used public funds to ensure that Kurz received positive publicity in the press, with the goal that he would become party leader and prime minister.
He was foreign minister when the campaign is said to have started in 2016. Investigators believe that the party used money from the Ministry of Finance to pay for manipulated opinion polls in Kurz ‘favor and for positive issues in the media.
Kurz and nine others are being investigated for abuse of power and bribery.
–Rejects
The party joined the ranks and supported Kurz after the investigation became known, but on Friday ÖVP’s coalition partner The Greens went out and demanded Kurz ‘resignation.
– It is quite clear that such a person is no longer suitable to govern, said parliamentary leader of the Greens, Sigrid Mauer.
In his speech on Saturday, Kurz emphasized that the allegations were untrue, but stressed the need for political stability.
“I have to make room,” said the Prime Minister.
A no-confidence vote was announced against him in the coming week, and without the support of the Greens, there were many indications that he could be forced to resign.
–The world’s youngest
Kurz was elected ÖVP leader in 2017 and has led two different governments in the last four years. When he took office, at the age of 31, he was the world’s youngest head of government.
He first ruled together with the right-wing Freedom Party after an election campaign strongly marked by immigration issues. In 2019, he had to resign as a result of a no-confidence motion.
But ÖVP retained its position as Austria’s largest party in the ensuing election and then formed a coalition government with the Greens in January 2020.
About a year ago, the Austrian village of “Fucking” chose to change its name:
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