Austrian Chancellor resigns following his party's debacle in presidential election

VIENNA. KAZINFORM Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Monday surprisingly stepped down from his role as chancellor as well as chairman of his Social Democrats (SPO) party due to the lack of enough support within SPO.

Faymann said in a short statement following a meeting with SPO leaders in Vienna that Austria needs a new chancellor with the full backing of their party, and the government needs to make a new start with strength.

"I had the majority of the SPO behind me. But there are situations in life when the majority is not enough, because you need the support of the whole party", Faymann said.

Recent reports showed that his popularity and support within the party has been on the decline. Since the debacle in the presidential election two weeks ago - SPO candidate Rudolf Hundstorfer reached only 11 percent - the critical statements within the SPO against Faymann increased. On May 1, the Chancellor was even greeted with boos in a traditional parade of the SPO.

Some federal organizations, especially the SPO chairmen of Vorarlberg and Salzburg, also publicly called for personnel consequences.

Last week unionists had also given differing opinions about the future of the SPO and its current party line, including some who were against Faymann staying on as leader.

Local media have reported a split in the party into two factions, those in favour of cooperation with the increasingly-popular far-right Freedom Party, and those who remain against it.

However, in recent days, the critics of Faymann held back, and everything seemed to come down to a compromise in which the chancellor remains in office at least until the party congress in November.

The rapid withdrawal of Faymann surprised not only the public but also the majority of the SPO.

Source: Xinhua