VIENNA: Austria’s ruling party nominated Interior Minister Karl Nehammer on Friday to lead the country, hoping to draw a line under corruption allegations that cost Sebastian Kurz the top job two months ago.

Kurz, one of Europe’s youngest leaders long seen as a “whizz kid” until graft claims brought him down in October, announced on Thursday he was leaving politics to spend time with his newborn.

To distance itself from the scandal that has engulfed Kurz, the conservative Peoples Party (OeVP) replaced several key positions on Friday.

Alexander Schallenberg, who took over from Kurz as chancellor in October, is set to return to the foreign ministry.

The president is expected to accept Nehammer’s nomination and set a date for the swearing-in.

“It is a big honour for me to get this vote of confidence,” Nehammer told reporters, adding it was a “privilege” to be chosen to lead the party and country.

Nehammer said his new team would continue to fight the fallout from the coronavirus “and get back our freedoms”.

Austria has imposed a three-week partial lockdown since late last month to rein in spiralling virus infection numbers.

With Nehammer, Austria will have had five different chancellors since 2016 in years of unusual political

volatility under conservative leadership in the Alpine EU member.

Analyst Thomas Hofer said it was uncertain if the conservative-Green coalition, in power since early 2020, would see through its full mandate until 2024.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2021