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Faymann quits as Austrian chancellor following far right's election victory Faymann quits as Austrian chancellor following far right's election victory
(about 3 hours later)
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. Austria’s social democratic chancellor has resigned suddenly, becoming the first major political victim of Europe’s refugee crisis after accusations from within his own party that he had caved in to rightwing populist demands to build fences on the country’s borders.
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. Werner Faymann, whose Social Democrats (SPÖ) suffered heavy losses in the first round of the presidential election last month, had initially taken a sympathetic approach to German chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy to support newcomers to Europe.
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, in which the anti-immigration, populist rightwing Freedom party (FPÖ) made huge gains. But with opinion polls consistently showing that the Freedom party (FPÖ), a right-wing populist group whose success is built on anti-immigration views and and fears of ‘Islamisation’, was topping the popularity stakes, Faymann did an abrupt U-turn.
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. He joined his coalition partners from the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP) in deciding to erect fences on Austria’s borders, and working in tandem with Balkan states on the migrant routes, encouraged them to do the same.
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.
“A lot is at stake. This is about Austria,” he said, adding he was “very grateful to have been allowed to serve this country”.
Related: Austrian far-right party's triumph in presidential poll could spell turmoilRelated: Austrian far-right party's triumph in presidential poll could spell turmoil
Faymann, 56, also defended his controversial decision to end Austria’s policy of welcoming refugees. Faymann, who until a few months ago was a staunch supporter of Angela Merkel’s open door policy, 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’s standing within the party plummeted. At recent May Day celebrations in Vienna, normally a deeply symbolic day for the party which has had a strong position in the city since the end of the second world war, Faymann was booed and jeered, with SPÖ supporters holding up placards demanding his resignation, which he obliged on Monday.
Faymann said that although he was proud his country had achieved a lot by giving tens of thousands asylum, “it would have been irresponsible to have not established our own measures”. Faymann, who had been in office for nearly eight years, admitted at a press conference in the chancellor’s office that he had lost the support of his party and would also be stepping down from his role as head of the SPÖ.
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. “This country needs a chancellor whose party is totally behind them,” Faymann said. “The government needs a fresh, forceful beginning. Anyone who doesn’t have this support is not up to the job.
“A lot is at stake. This is about Austria,” he said, adding he was “very grateful to have been allowed to serve this country”.
His resignation on Monday deepens Austria’s domestic political crisis, which came to head last month when neither the SPÖ nor the ÖVP, the country’s most established parties, managed to garner even a quarter of the popular vote after the first round of presidential elections, for the first time since 1945.
The parties’ poor showings have been put down to anxieties fuelled by the migration crisis, which has led to a right-wing shift. The success of Norbert Hofer of the FPÖ who secured 36.4% in the first round of the presidential vote, only increased the feelings within the SPÖ that by giving in to the FPÖ’s demands for tighter border controls, he had also boosted their standing.
But in his resignation speech Faymann, 56, took the opportunity to defend his controversial decision to end the welcome refugee policy, which in March saw Austrian officials impose a cap on 80 asylum applications a day, and the erection of a fence along part of the border with Slovenia.
Faymann said although he was proud his country had achieved a lot by giving tens of thousands of people 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, 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 the 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 issuesA 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
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.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.
Reinhold Mitterlehner, from the ÖVP will serve as caretaker chancellor, according to a spokeswoman for President Heinz Fischer, until a parliamentary election is held.
The mayor of Vienna, Michael Häupl, a staunch supporter of Faymann’s, will take over the SPÖ leadership until the next party conference.The mayor of Vienna, Michael Häupl, a staunch supporter of Faymann’s, will take over the SPÖ leadership until the next party conference.
The second round of the presidential elections will take place on 22 May, when Hofer and Alexander van der Bellen from the Green party will face each other in a tight runoff.
Faymann’s resignation is being seen as a further sign of how strong the challenge from the FPÖ has now become and of how divided the established parties are over how to tackle its rise.
The FPÖ has existed since 1955, but first came to true prominence in 1986 under its charismatic leader Jörg Haider who in 1999 led his party to second place in parliamentary elections. The threat of the FPÖ joining government then led to a boycott of Austria by several of its EU partners.
Haider died in a car crash in 2008 and some predicted his party would perish with him. But as issues such as migration and the economy have risen in importance it has found itself surge from strength to strength.