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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Europe's Youngest Leader, Ousted After Nationalists Turn on Him
Posted
May 27, 2019
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0:59Now PlayingAustrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was ousted on Monday after his erstwhile coalition partners in the nationalist Freedom Party joined the opposition in a vote to dismiss him.
It’s the first time since Austria was reconstituted after World War II that a chancellor has been thrown from office. It’s now up to President Alexander Van der Bellen to appoint a caretaker government until snap elections in September.
It’s a reversal of fortune for Europe’s youngest leader, who now also becomes Austria’s shortest-serving chancellor. The parliamentary decision came just hours after his conservative People’s Party surged to a decisive victory in European parliamentary elections. It netted record support and came in first as the opposition failed to capitalize on the week-old scandal that ensnared his nationalist vice-chancellor and threw the government into disarray.
“Voters will have their say on election day,” Kurz said during the parliamentary debate ahead of the no-confidence motion. “I made an effort to provide stability, to put together a capable acting government.”
The successful no-confidence vote could turn out to be a high-risk gamble for the opposition as opinion polls suggest Austrians didn’t want Kurz removed.
President Van der Bellen’s options include naming senior civil servants, retired politicians or judges that command respect across the party spectrum. He could also let Kurz continue as acting chancellor for a few days, long enough to take part in the European Union summit on Tuesday in Brussels.
Since taking power in 2017, Kurz has tried to show conservatives across Europe that they can achieve goals by working with their nationalist rivals. But the collapse of his coalition has served rather to highlights the risks of getting into bed with a party that has spent much of its time on the fringes of the mainstream.
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