On the 9th local time, Austrian Prime Minister Kurz held a press conference to announce his resignation as prime minister and nominate the current Foreign Minister Schulenberg to take over the post of prime minister. In his statement, Kurtz denied previous allegations of corruption against him personally and thanked his party for its support and encouragement from the public.
Entering politics at the age of 23, becoming foreign minister at the age of 27 and elected prime minister at the age of 31, Kurtz's political resume has amazed the world, and he is also one of the youngest heads of government in the world. After a recall and another victory, he is now 35 years old and caught up in a corruption scandal.
The children of civilians who quickly reached the top
Kurz was born on August 27, 1986, into an ordinary family in Vienna with no political background, his father an engineer and his mother a teacher. The family of three lives in a local blue-collar residential area, where a large number of immigrants are also residents.
Kurtz has been a bully since he was a child, and his grades in public schools have always been among the best. In 2005, after completing compulsory military service, Kurz entered austria's oldest university law school in Vienna. During his university years, Kurtz was actively involved in a large number of clubs and political activities. In his own words, he "has been obsessed with politics since he was a teenager."
In order to devote himself to political careers, Kurtz suspended his studies at the University of Vienna in 2011. In the same year, he was elected to the Vienna City Council and became Minister of Immigration and Integration of Austria, an experience that set the tone for his future success and core campaign policy.
Two years later, the 27-year-old Kurtz was elected to Parliament with a very high vote and became foreign minister, beginning to enter the EU political arena, and he is also the youngest foreign minister in Europe. During his tenure as Foreign Minister, Kurz played an important role in facilitating the negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear agreement on Iran and strengthened Austria's position on this internationally important issue.
In May 2017, Kurtz was elected chairman of the People's Party with nearly unanimous votes, taking another step forward in his political career. In less than half a year, Kurz led the not-so-young conservative party to more than 30 percent of the vote, winning the Austrian National Assembly election.
In December 2017, Kurz became Chancellor of Austria, and at the age of 31 he became one of the youngest national leaders in the world.
After quickly reaching the top, this young face attracted much attention. Kurtz, who has long legs and high looks, has been ridiculed by European public opinion as Austria's "national son-in-law", and he is also regarded as Austria's "Macron" and "Trudeau".
"Turn right" hardliners
Many people are curious, without relying on "fighting daddy" and there is no capital to pave the way, why does the young Kurtz dominate the political arena? The analysis generally agrees that Kurtz's success was no accident, and that in addition to his own good image, he was also due to his excellent political skills and the right timing.
Since 2015, Europe has been mired in a refugee crisis, and Austria has also borne a lot of pressure. According to data, the number of refugees applying for asylum in Austria reached 90,000 in 2015, and the number has not decreased. The influx of refugees has brought about a series of crises such as cultural differences, religious conflicts, and security issues. More and more Austrians are losing patience with this and desperate for real tough measures to contain the refugee crisis. Kurtz is the antidote to this problem.
Kurtz has maintained a consistently tough stance on refugees. He has made clear calls for the EU to adopt stricter border controls, thereby accurately reversing one of Europe's biggest crises.
In the 2017 general election, Kurz led the People's Party to the top. The analysis believes that a beautiful "immigration and refugee card" adds a lot of points to him. On the other hand, Kurtz also knew how to judge the situation and led the people's party that held a center-right position to "turn to the right" in time, quickly winning a large number of votes from the hands of far-right parties.
In recent years, many EU countries have been experiencing the challenges of the European debt crisis, the refugee crisis and the Uk's "Brexit", which has provided the soil for the rapid growth of far-right forces. Some observers point out that Kurtz's rise borrowed from this shareholder wind and instigated the wind. Agence France-Presse has commented that Kurtz made the country at the foot of the Alps the only country in Western Europe with a far-right party in the cabinet.
In addition, Kurtz's image of being full of vitality and seeking innovation and change has also brought a new atmosphere to this lifeless "old and decaying empire".
During the campaign, Kurz visited almost every corner of Austria, took the initiative to take photos with supporters, and was therefore named "emperor of selfies" and quickly occupied major social media. After taking office, he repackaged the BJP from the inside out, changing the BJP's traditional black color to turquoise and changing the slogan to "the new BJP".
The temporarily departed "Shadow Prime Minister"
It is hard to predict that Kurtz, who has brought fresh air to the international political arena, will "fall" on corruption scandals.
Kurtz announced his resignation on the 9th, after a few days after his office was raided, and prosecutors demanded a corruption and dishonesty investigation into himself and his team.
The corruption allegations reportedly involve a period between 2016 and 2018 in which Kurtz allegedly used Treasury money to manipulate polls and buy off local media coverage in favor of the ruling party. The corruption scandal caused a shock in Austrian politics, and the Austrian Green Party, which is in league with the People's Party, then accused Kurz of no longer suitable to be prime minister and began negotiations with opposition parties, which threatened to launch a vote of no confidence in the prime minister next week.
Announcing his resignation, Kurtz said what Austria needed now was stability and that his withdrawal was meant to "ease the impasse." He also said the allegations were "unfounded" and that he would take the opportunity to clarify the false allegations against him. Some media outlets saw his resignation as an embattled reprieve to save the coalition government.
According to the analysis, Kurz will continue to be an important figure in Austrian politics after stepping down. Although no longer prime minister, he remains chairman of the People's Party, has the right to participate in cabinet meetings, and will retain parliamentary seats, while he has worked for many years with Schalenberg, who succeeded him as prime minister, and the two have a "very constructive" close relationship. As a result, some opposition parties believe that Kurtz may become the "shadow prime minister" behind the scenes. There are also some BJP members who expect that Kurtz's departure is only temporary and that one day he will return to center stage.
Still others question whether Kurtz's aura is fading. In May 2019, kurtz was deposed in a vote of no confidence initiated by the opposition party due to the video storm of the then Austrian Deputy Chancellor and Chairman of the Liberal Party Strache, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister since the founding of the Second Austrian Republic. The ruling coalition between the BJP and the Liberals for nearly a year and a half has also broken down, disappointing some European rightists.
However, in the early general election in 2019, the Kurz-led People's Party once again won a big victory. In January 2020, Kurz was reappointed Chancellor of Austria.
Kurtz's future is all concerned, after all, he is only 35 years old, and in the resumes of many national leaders, this age is only the beginning of a political career.
Kurtz has told the media that he is passionate about many things and will not focus his entire career on politics. "I'm not at all worried that there are many beautiful things to experience in life outside of politics."
Some observers point out that Kurtz's resignation was behind a turbulent political environment in Austria. Austrian President van der Belém issued a stern statement on the 8th, calling on all political parties to put aside their political interests in order to unite and stabilize.
Kurtz confessed at a press conference on the 8th, "I admit that this is not an easy step for me."
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Column Editor-in-Chief: Yang Liqun Text Editor: Yang Liqun Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Su Wei
Source: Author: Yang Ying