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'A withdrawal of the Kurz era': Two Austrian ministers resign

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'A withdrawal of the Kurz era': Two Austrian ministers resign
Margarete Schramböck is one of two ÖVP ministers that resigned on Monday. Photo by Franz Johann Morgenbesser from Vienna, Austria https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61674004

Austria's Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer is set to announce a reshuffle after the resignation of two more ÖVP ministers that were close to the former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

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Austria’s Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger resigned from government on Monday in a move that was quickly followed by the resignation of Economics Minister Margarete Schramböck a few hours later.

Both ÖVP ministers were close to the former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz who resigned from the role as Federal Chancellor in October 2021 amid corruption allegations before stepping down from politics completely in December.

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Political scientist Peter Filzmaier told ORF that the resignations represented the “most discreet possible withdrawal movement from the Kurz era”.

The replacements were announced later on Tuesday. Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP) will take over as Minister of Agriculture - though at a later date as he tested positive for Covid-19 -  while Martin Kocher (ÖVP) will assume the Ministry of Economics along with Labour.

READ MORE: Austria’s former health minister becomes best-selling author

According to Der Standard newspaper, the resignation of Köstinger and Schramböck has left Austria’s ÖVP party in “turmoil”

The Krone newspaper notes that now only seven of the 17 turquoise-green government members originally sworn in by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen on January 7, 2020 are still in the same office. 

The report gives the corruption investigations against Kurz and those around him, the Covid-19 pandemic and allegations of plagiarism as reasons for the various departures.

READ ALSO: Austrian Economy Minister says gas embargo would be ‘red line

Following the latest announcement of resignations, Austria’s opposition SPÖ and FPÖ parties have criticised the 14th government reshuffle and are calling for new elections. 

The “row of resignations” in the ÖVP shows that the turquoise-green federal government “only stands for chaos and self-employment”, according to SPÖ federal manager Christian Deutsch.

The ÖVP is due to hold a party conference on Saturday in Graz where Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer will be elected as the new party leader.

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