Sun 10 October 2021:
Following allegations of corruption, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz resigned on Saturday.
“My country is more important to me than my person. What is needed now is stable conditions. I want to make room to prevent chaos and ensure stability,” Kurz said in a live television news statement at the Chancellery in Vienna.
It would be “irresponsible to slide into months of chaos,” said Kurz, whose duties will be handed to Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
Kurz and members of his team are being investigated by the public prosecutor’s office on suspicion of corruption and violation of trust. The procedure had thrown the government into turmoil.
On Wednesday prosecutors raided several locations linked to the OeVP and announced that Kurz and nine other individuals were under investigation over claims that government money was used in a corrupt deal to ensure positive media coverage.
Kurz has denied any wrongdoing, reiterating on Saturday that allegations against him were “false.”
“I will be able to clarify it; I’m sure about that,” he said calmly.
He said some of the text messages he wrote that got him into hot water were composed in “the heat of the moment.”
“I’m just human with emotions and mistakes,” he said.
The corruption investigations triggered a government crisis in the middle of the week. As a coalition partner, the Greens deemed the chancellor unfit for office.
On Tuesday, Kurz will face a motion of no-confidence in a special session of parliament and is expected to be voted out of office.
Kurz’s resignation was welcomed by Greens leader and Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler as a “right and important step” for future government functioning.
Following Kurz’s departure, Kogler said he would meet with Schallenberg on Sunday to discuss how the coalition would continue to rule.
Kurz stated that he would recommend Schallenberg as the future chancellor, but that he would remain as the head of the People’s Party (OVP) and a member of parliament.
The main opposition party criticized the recent decision by Kurz to stay on as OVP chairman.
The leader of the Social Democrats, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, said Kurz would continue to pull the strings “from the shadows.”
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