No more chances for the chancellorFOR seven and a half years, Austria’s chancellor, Werner Faymann, survived the fall-out of the world financial crisis, turmoil in the euro zone, a wave of refugees and more than a dozen electoral setbacks for his Social Democratic party. As of last week, he was the European Union’s second-longest-serving head of government, after Germany’s Angela Merkel.
But the first round of Austria’s presidential elections last month, where his party’s candidate won a dismal 11% of the vote, was one defeat too many. At the traditional May Day parade, party stalwarts turned away and young activists booed him. On May 9th Mr Faymann stepped down. A politician better at infighting than public speaking, he leaves behind a divided party and a precarious government.
The coalition, with the centre-right People’s Party as junior partners, enjoys a slim majority in parliament. But it is under attack from the far-right Freedom Party, which is well ahead in the opinion polls. Norbert Hofer, its soft-spoken candidate for the federal presidency, got 35% in the first round and is the favourite to...Continue reading
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