Following the resignation of Sebastian Kurz, new chancellor Nahammer now takes over the leadership of the Austrian People’s Party. She is currently in a difficult situation.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nahammer, who held office for a good five months, is now the leader of the conservative ÖVP party. At an extraordinary Federalist Party convention on Saturday, 100 percent of delegates voted for him. Before the election, the 49-year-old. The ÖVP has ruled in alliance with the Green Party since the beginning of 2020. The alliance is considered stable.
His predecessor Sebastian Kurz, 35, resigned from his position as a consultant after investigations into suspected corruption began in October 2021. He retired from politics and now works for American investor and billionaire Peter Thiel, a confidant of former US President Donald Trump.
The party is in trouble
Nahamer was the only candidate for this position. The party is in a difficult position. Investigations are underway against several senior ÖVP politicians on suspicion of corruption, and the party’s opinion polls, spoiled by power, fell sharply, and a few days before the party meeting, Nahamer was forced to reshuffle after two ministers resigned. Nehamer wanted to give the party an “injection of courage” according to his environment.
“It’s also about restoring the confidence that you’ve lost to some extent,” the chancellor told Kleine Zeitung. Some 600 delegates are entitled to vote from among the more than 1,000 guests at the party congress in Graz.
Nahamer also made international headlines recently due to his surprise visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting went without a tangible result.