Unable To Confront Right-Wing Surge, Chancellor Steps Down

Austria’s Social Democratic Chancellor stood down in a shock announcement this morning amid collapsing support for traditional parties in the country, in a move which has been called “a beautiful day for Austria” by his insurgent nationalist opponents. Socialist-left Chancellor Werner Faymann’s Social Democratic Party of Austria failed to even make it to the second round of voting in last month’s presidential elections, as citizens voted overwhelmingly for candidates from alternative political movements. Just one in ten Austrians voted for the party in government. After the count, only Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party of Austria and Alexander Van der Bellen of the Green Party went through to the next and final round of voting. Popular anger over Austria’s response to the migration crisis, which for most of 2015 was to welcome allcomers and made Austria one of the highest net importers of humans in Europe, has manifested itself at the ballot box. Anti mass migration, Eurosceptic, low-tax presidential candidate Mr. Hofer made it clear that should he be elected he would be selecting a new Chancellor, and probably not from the socialist left. After months of poor poll performance for his party and pressure from within to not accommodate and work with the anti-immigration
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by Oliver JJ Lane || Image Credit