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Werner Faymann quits as Austrian chancellor Faymann quits as Austrian chancellor in wake of bruising election defeat
(35 minutes later)
The Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann, has resigned two weeks after his Social Democratic party (SPÖ) suffered a disastrous result in a presidential election. The Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann, has bowed to intense domestic pressure and announced his resignation, two weeks after his Social Democratic party (SPÖ) suffered heavy losses in a presidential election.
Faymann, chancellor since 2008, had been under pressure from some in his party over his tough asylum policy and from others for wanting to keep a ban on forming coalitions with the anti-immigration Freedom party (FPÖ), whose candidate won the first round of the presidential vote last month on an anti-Islam and Eurosceptic platform. Faymann, chancellor since 2008, said he had lost the support of his party and would also be stepping down from his role as head of the SPÖ.
In a statement issued after a party meeting, Faymann announced his resignation both as chancellor and head of the SPÖ. “This country needs a chancellor who has the party’s full support,” he said. He had been facing ever louder calls to resign since the SPÖ’s defeat in the first round of the presidential race on 24 April, which saw the anti-immigration, populist rightwing Freedom Party (FPÖ) make huge gains.
Austria has been braced for political turmoil since rightwing populist Norbert Hofer won a landslide victory for the FPÖ in the first round of the country’s presidential elections. The FPÖ secured 36.4% of the vote, excluding the SPÖ and the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) from the second round of voting for the first time since 1945.
Hofer defied pollsters’ predictions to beat the Green party’s Alexander Van der Bellen into second place, gaining 36% of the vote. The two candidates will go head to head in a runoff ballot on 22 May. Announcing his decision from the chancellor’s office, Faymann said: “This country needs a chancellor whose party is totally behind them. The government needs a fresh, forceful beginning. Anyone who doesn’t have this support is not up to the job.
Faymann, who in March faced criticism from trade unionists and the SPÖ’s youth wing when he capped the number of people allowed to claim asylum in Austria, had also resisted calls from some in his party to cooperate with the FPÖ. “A lot is at stake. This is about Austria,” he said, adding he was “very grateful to have been allowed to serve this country”.
“We need a decision about which direction to take, a new SPÖ, which doesn’t dither, zig-zags around, and tries to please everyone. It’s a mistake to politically exclude the FPÖ,” Josef Muchitsch, an SPÖ politician and unionist, told Profil magazine at the weekend. Related: Austrian far-right party's triumph in presidential poll could spell turmoil
But others, such as Vienna’s influential mayor, Michael Häupl, who takes over as interim party leader, had supported Faymann. The 56-year-old also defended his controversial decision to end Austria’s policy of welcoming refugees. Until a few months ago a staunch supporter of Angela Merkel’s open door policy, Faymann made a dramatic about-turn in March, when Austrian officials imposed a cap on 80 asylum applications a day and erected a fence along part of the border with Slovenia.
Faymann said that although he was proud that his country had achieved a lot by giving tens of thousands asylum, “it would have been irresponsible to have not established our own measures”.
Some within the SPÖ were angry about Faymann’s tough asylum policy, while others objected to his adamant opposition to forming coalitions with the FPÖ, whose candidate Norbert Hofer won the first round of the presidential vote on an anti-Islam and eurosceptic platform.
The minister for the chancellory, Josef Ostermayer, suggested on Saturday the party could cooperate with the FPÖ on the provincial and municipal level – where much of the political power is held in federalised Austria – but keep separate at the national level.The minister for the chancellory, Josef Ostermayer, suggested on Saturday the party could cooperate with the FPÖ on the provincial and municipal level – where much of the political power is held in federalised Austria – but keep separate at the national level.
“It could go in this direction: the different levels – municipalities, provinces – decide for themselves if cooperation makes sense,” he told the tabloid Öesterreich.“It could go in this direction: the different levels – municipalities, provinces – decide for themselves if cooperation makes sense,” he told the tabloid Öesterreich.
While president of Austria is mainly a ceremonial role, Hofer has threatened to make use of a right to dissolve parliament before the 2018 elections, warning other candidates in a TV debate that “you will be surprised by what can be done [by a president]”.While president of Austria is mainly a ceremonial role, Hofer has threatened to make use of a right to dissolve parliament before the 2018 elections, warning other candidates in a TV debate that “you will be surprised by what can be done [by a president]”.
A youthful 45-year-old who is partially paralysed after a paragliding accident, Hofer has campaigned for disability rights and is seen as having lent a friendly face to a party that balances virulently anti-immigration and Eurosceptic messages with leftist stances on welfare issues. A youthful 45-year-old who is partially paralysed after a paragliding accident, Hofer has campaigned for disability rights and is seen as having lent a friendly face to a party that balances virulently anti-immigration and Eurosceptic messages with leftist stances on welfare issues
Many commentators say the crisis of the political establishment in Austria has much to do with the fact that the two centrist parties have governed the country in a “grand coalition” for the past 10 years. Faymann’s resignation came two days after hundreds of protesters gathered at the Brenner Pass, on the border between Austria and Italy, to demonstrate against Austria’s crackdown on refugees and asylum seekers.
The Vienna mayor, Michael Häupl, a staunch supporter of Faymann’s, will take over the SPÖ leadership until the next party conference.