Former Chancellor Kurz Withdraws From Politics

In an unexpected twist, former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has announced his withdrawal from politics at the age of 35 following a corruption scandal that ended his tenure as head of gov't in October.

• At a press conference Kurz stated that "I am neither a saint nor a criminal", and has stepped down as leader of the centre-right Austrian People's Party (OVP).
• There had been speculation that Kurz would seek a political comeback in the new year, but lingering public resentment towards his exit from the chancellery and the gov'ts poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has put paid to these potential aims (for the medium-term at least)
• The Austrian gov't - formed by the OVP and the environmentalist Greens - sits in a precarious position. Kurz had reformed the OVP in recent years with himself as the clear centre of political gravity. Without his leadership there is the potential for a power vacuum at the heart of gov't.
• The latest poll from OGM carried out 23-25 Nov shows the centre-left Social Democrats (SPO) ahead of the OVP for the first time since May 2017 in any Austrian poll, and for the first time since June 2014 in an OGM poll. The Greens are more polticially compatable with the SPO, and given the travails of the OVP its leadership could seek to pull the plug on the coalition to engender a snap election that could bring about a left-leaning gov't with the SPO, Greens and liberal NEOS.