"The last 15 months weigh like 15 years".
After two collapses in recent weeks, Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober threw in the towel and resigned.
Thus ended the short parable of the 'Covid minister'.
A year ago, during the first wave, the Green leader was the Kurz government member with the highest confidence rate.
While many already saw him at the Hofburg as the successor of President Alexander Van der Bellen, the persistence of the pandemic has worn Anschober deeply, not only politically but physically as well.
Health problems have long been a taboo for politicians, not just in Austria.
The legendary Social Democratic Chancellor Bruno Kreisky was secretly undergoing dialysis cycles and in 2005 the then president Thomas Klestil died two days before the end of his term after two heart attacks and a pulmonary embolism.
Anschober, on the other hand, changed his approach and this morning raised the white flag: "In the worst health crisis of recent decades, Austria needs a health minister who is 100% fit. The pandemic does not take a break and neither can the health minister. do it, "the 60-year-old said.
"I don't want to destroy myself, I apply the emergency brake," he added.
For the green is not the first time.
In 2012 he had a burnout and spoke about it publicly.
"It's like they've pulled the plug," he recalled today.
"In politics, sick leave can only be imagined for a short period. This is why we must respect him", commented the political scientist Peter Filzmaier speaking with ANSA.
A year ago, former elementary school teacher Anschober was flying in the polls.
He liked his way of explaining complex concepts in simple, calm words.
However, setbacks followed and the 'Covid minister' lost its luster, as Filzmaier points out: "Ordinances that were contradictory or in contrast with legislation and temporal objectives that then did not hold up".
His catchphrase has now entered the repertoire of Crozza-style cabaret artists: "The next few weeks will be decisive".
The political scientist also remembers the push and pull on reopenings: "From second place in the polls behind Van der Bellen last summer, Anschober in recent months has collapsed to 13th position".
The minister also announced the withdrawal from social media.
"What sustains me - he confessed to friends in recent months - is the hope of being able to return to Italy soon".
Here, pandemic permitting, Anschober will be able to realize his secret dream, that of writing a political novel.
In the meantime, his successor, the technician Wolfgang Muckstein, a doctor with a long administrative experience, will swear next Monday.
