Briefly announced resignation as Chancellor

Sebastian Kurz now has consequences from the corruption allegations against him and the resulting Government crisis drawn and his retirement as Federal Chancellor announced.

Briefly – Resignation as Chancellor “no admission of guilt”

Instead, he wants to act as party and club chairman in the future. An admission of guilt does not mean this announcement at a press appearance on Saturday evening. Kurz again described the allegations against him as false.

Kurz justified his departure with the fact that he wanted to avoid months of chaos and standstill. He also wanted to avoid a four-party experiment at the grace of FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl: “My country is more important to me than my person.” In such a situation, it shouldn’t be about personal interests, party interests or political tactics, said Kurz. “My country is more important to me than my person.” In order to resolve the stalemate, he decided to make room.

ÖVP government should continue under Schallenberg

He asked the ÖVP government team to continue their work and proposed Alexander Schallenberg as the new Federal Chancellor to the Federal President, said Kurz. Schallenberg has the diplomatic skills necessary to rebuild trust between the parties.

No comment from Van der Bellen

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen was informed of the resignation of the Federal Chancellor. His APA spokesman confirmed this on Saturday evening. A spokesman for Van der Bellens has also confirmed that Kurz has proposed Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as his successor. However, the head of state will probably not comment on the further course of action until Sunday at the earliest. No comment is expected for Saturday, the Hofburg said.

From a legal point of view, Van der Bellen is not in short on the appointment of the new Federal Chancellor ‘Proposal bound. In practice, however, every head of government sworn in by the Federal President must have a majority in the National Council. Formally, a letter of resignation from the outgoing Chancellor Kurz is also required before the inauguration. His impeachment and the inauguration of his successor should probably only be expected on Monday.

Speculation on social media

The ÖVP had also met for a meeting. There was speculation about the resignation in advance.

APA / GEORG HOCHMUTH

Sebastian Kurz wants to stay

Federal Chancellor and ÖVP boss Sebastian Kurz faced the media at short notice on Friday evening and emphasized that he and his team from the People’s Party in the government were “capable of acting and …

The announcement sparked discussions on Twitter.

Kurz now turns on ZiB1 every evening at 7:30 p.m. Live statement? Maybe you could just record it and only send it when it is relevant? – Florian Klenk (@florianklenk) October 9, 2021

I know what I’m NOT doing from 8:15 p.m. today: # FÄRAUT ⚽️ watch on TV … # zibspezial

– Peter Filzmaier ( @PeterFilzmaier) October 9, 2021

And that doesn’t sound implausible. More at 7.30pm. https://t.co/xnMcpvBBw7

– Armin Wolf (@ArminWolf) October 9, 2021

Now the APA is also writing: Shortly before resignation, Schallenberg is to become Chancellor for a limited period, short ÖVP club chairman in parliament.
Will definitely be a Harmonious parliamentary cooperation with Sigi Maurer, who Kurz yesterday declared as Chancellor “no longer fit for office”. – Armin Wolf (@ArminWolf) October 9, 2021

Government crisis ends in political quakes

Before, Kurz had emphasized that to want to stay in office . However, the other parties disagreed with this. Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) held Kurz for “No longer able to officiate” and presented him with an ultimatum: If the Chancellor does not draw conclusions himself, there is a threat of a vote of no confidence by all other parties at a special session of the National Council on Tuesday .

Not only the Greens and the opposition were outraged by the latest revelations and demanded consequences. The pressure also grew from the federal states. For example, Tyrol’s regional councilor
Beate Palfrader withdraws from the chancellorship.

Parties respond with statements

The reactions of the other parties were not long in coming. NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger had announced a statement for 8.15 p.m. The SPÖ and the Greens also expressed themselves in the evening.

(Source: APA / SALZBURG24)