Austrian president dissolves parliament after ‘Ibiza scandal’
Aust ria’s presi dent has for - mally dissolved the country’s government, after Chancellor Sebastian Kurz lost a no-confidence vote in parliament.
President Alexander Van der Bellen’s move followed more than a week of turmoil that began with the publication of a video showing a coalition figure, the leader of Austria’s farright Freedom Par t y (FPO), app earing to offer lucrative g ove r n me n t c o n t r a c t s t o a purported Russian investor.
That prompted Kurz to pull the plug on the governing coalition between his right-wing People’s Par t y and the Free - dom Party and call for a new national election.
During an acrimonious session in parliament on Monday, the Freedom Par t y and the opposition Social Democrats accused Kurz of seeking to consolidate power while he and his People’s Party are riding high in the polls
B o t h p a r t i e s t h e n v o t e d in favor of a no - confidence mot i o n a g a i n s t Ku r z ’s g ov - ernment.
B u o y e d b y a s t r o n g f i r s t - place showing in the Euro - p e a n e l e c t i o n o n S u n d a y, Kurz vowed not to be gone for long, suggesting that his party would emerge even stronger in Austria’s national election in September.
“In the end, the people will decide in September, and I’m happy about that,” he told a cheering crowd in Vienna.
The governments collapse star ted with German publications Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung publishing a video showing Heinz-christian Strache, the FPO leader, and his parliamentary leader, Johann Gudenus, talking to an unidentified woman purporting to be the niece of a Russian oligarch.
During the six-hour meeting at a luxury resort on Ibiza, the woman asks about the possibility of gaining control of the countr y’s largest-circulation tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung. Mr Strache is heard replying that after staff changes at the paper, it could help the FPO in its election campaign. It is not clear who organised the sting, but Mr Strache resigned a day after the video’s publication, describing his behaviour as “stupid, irresp onsible and a mistake”.
Mr Van der Bellen needs to appoint a caretaker government to run the country until the national election, and said he exp ects to do that in the next week. Until that government is in place, he temporarily kept the same Cabinet ministers in place. Mr Kurz’s deputy chancellor, finance minister Hartwig Loeger, is taking over the duties of chancellor until the interim government is appointed.
Mr Van der Bellen took the occasion to admonish all parties to tone down their rhetoric and engage in constructive dialogue.
“I think that the current situation shows how important conversations are,” he said.
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