Austria: Chancellor Schallenberg announces his resignation

He could leave as soon as he arrived. Alexander Schallenberg, Austria’s chancellor at the head of the country since the beginning of October, announced on Thursday that he would resign as soon as his party appointed its new leader.

After declaring that he had no intention of leading the Conservative Party, he said: “I am absolutely convinced that the two jobs – head of government and head of the party – should again be in the hands of the same person.” The 52-year-old, a lawyer by training, is therefore ready to “quit office” once the next leader of the ÖVP is appointed.

According to the information received from Spiegel, The current Minister of the Interior, Karl Nahammer, could take over the leadership of the ÖVP and become a chancellor. A meeting of the leaders of the Federal Office is also scheduled for Friday.

Sebastian Kurz withdrew

News of the current chancellor’s impending resignation comes just hours after former chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced his withdrawal from politics. The 35-year-old, the world’s youngest head of government when he took power at the age of 31, had He left office last October After opening a corruption investigation against him. Then he asked Alexander Schallenberg, the foreign minister at the time and a confidant of the chancellor, to succeed him. Kurz remained at the helm of the ÖVP, which also headed the parliamentary group.

The scandal erupted in October, when several places – including the Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance – were raided as part of an investigation into suspected embezzlement of public funds between 2016 and 2018. This alleged embezzlement was allegedly intended to fund the publication. Fake polls and encouraging media coverage of Sebastian Kurz in the media for an influential Austrian journalist group. In turn, the latter could have been rewarded by purchasing profitable advertising inserts, judging by the elements of the parquet floor.