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Government crisis in Austria: Former Chancellor Kurz unanimously elected ÖVP parliamentary group leader

2021-10-11T21:32:45.213Z


Austria's resigned Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wanted to become parliamentary leader of his party despite the corruption affair. The MPs of the ÖVP now decided unanimously for him.


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Sebastian Kurz (archive image)

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Thomas Kronsteiner / Getty Images

Austria's resigned Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is the new parliamentary group leader of the conservative ÖVP in the National Council.

The ÖVP announced on Thursday evening that a secret ballot was unanimously elected.

The previous sole parliamentary group leader, August Wöginger, was also unanimously elected as his first deputy.

"We will work together with all our might for the people in Austria," said Kurz and Wöginger.

Kurz will be sworn in as a member of parliament on Thursday.

He will therefore not attend the special session on Tuesday or the regular session on Wednesday as a Member of Parliament.

Public prosecutor investigates suspected corruption

Kurz resigned as head of government on Saturday.

The public prosecutor's office is investigating him on suspicion of corruption.

(Read more about it here.) Kurz and his team are said to have misappropriated tax funds and embellished surveys for the rise of the top ÖVP politician.

Kurz denies the allegations.

However, Kurz did not want to withdraw from politics.

He remains the head of the ÖVP and also wanted to become the leader of his party's parliamentary group.

The 35-year-old is already two former chancellors: the government with the Greens was sworn in at the beginning of 2020.

Before that, Kurz had ruled with the right-wing FPÖ from 2017 to 2019.

His successor Alexander Schallenberg has been leading the coalition of ÖVP and Greens since Monday.

ngo / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-10-11

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