Austrian chancellor set to lose noconfidence showdown

VIENNA AFP MAY27,2019Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was set Monday to lose a no-confidence vote from MPS, which will see him removed from office over a corruption scandal that brought down his coalition government.

Norbert Hofer, chief of the farright Freedom Party (FPOE), said Monday that his party “will support” the motion, which is also backed by the main opposition Social Democrats (SPOE).

The move comes just after Kurz celebrated a big win for his conservative People’s Party (OEVP) in Sunday’s European elections, projected to gain 34.9 percent of the vote and two extra European parliament seats.

It follows in the wake of the so-called “Ibiza-gate” scandal, which saw FPOE leader and Vicechancellor Heinz-christian Strache resign from both posts after he was caught appearing to offer public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian backer.