Rome, 9 October 2021 – Sebastian Kurz announces the resignation in Austria, overwhelmed by ainvestigation by the anti-corruption prosecutor. Accused of using public money to commission polls in his favor, Kurz will remain on the national council as the parent company of the OeVP, the People’s Party, and has proposed the current Foreign Minister as “successor”. Alexander Schallenberg, which will then take over as interim chancellor.
“Would be irresponsible to leave our country in chaos and in the stalemate – explained Kurz announcing his resignation -, the experiment of a four-party coalition that would depend on the graces of Herbert Kickl’s Freiheitlichen would also be irresponsible. I place the country’s interest in front of mine “, he continued, announcing that he will remain in parliament as group leader and leader of the popular party Oevp.
But Kurz’s resignation is not an admission of guilt. The resigning chancellor has in fact again branded as false the allegations according to which he would have used public funds to disseminate polls in his favor: “The allegations are false and I will prove it“.
The investigation opened by the Prosecutor’s Office for Economy and Corruption (WKStA) had put Kurz under increasing pressure from the Greens, his allies in the government. But already in recent days, the chancellor had explained that he saw no reason to give up his office and had declared himself “capable and willing to act”, like his Popular Party (OevP). Kurz had assured that he would go out of his way to guarantee political stability in the country, after the controversy following the searches anti-corruption investigators in its offices, in the OeVP headquarters, and in the Ministry of Finance. The latter’s funds would be used to finance the publication of polls that responded to Kurz’s interests.
And it was precisely following the search that the vice-chancellor Werner Kogler he had recently described Kurz as “unfit for office” and given him an ultimatum, threatening a vote of no confidence if he did not “draw the consequences” and leave the chancellery.
This isn’t the first time Kurz has come under investigation. The Chancellor began his second term, leading a coalition with the Green Party, in January 2020. His previous government, ruled by a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPOE), is collapsed in May 2019 because of the so-called “Ibiza gate“, another corruption case, in which Kurz is being investigated on charges of misrepresentation.
© All rights reserved