In this file photo taken on April 19, 2021 Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks during a press conference prior to a coaltion meeting at Hofburg palace in Vienna. — AFP picVIENNA, May 16 —Once hailed as a “wunderkind”, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has seen his carefully built image dented amid coronavirus fatigue and an investigation into whether he lied to a parliamentary committee on corruption.
If charged, Kurz would be the first chancellor to have to face court while in office in the small Alpine EU member of some nine million people. Austria largely managed to keep the virus at bay during the first wave last year, but has struggled in the third wave with a lockdown since last November. “For Sebastian Kurz, who has been spoiled with success for a long time, it is the most delicate phase of his career,”The investigation announced on Wednesday pertains to statements Kurz gave to a committee of lawmakers last year, in which he denied having had any influence over the appointment of the head of the OeBAG state holding company, Thomas Schmid.
In the aftermath Kurz lost a no-confidence vote in parliament and fresh elections were called, where he managed to secure a strengthened mandate as disillusioned far-right voters flocked to his People’s Party .But Kurz’s current junior coalition partner, the Greens who campaigned on a transparency platform, have been at pains to defend him and his allies hit by allegations of wrongdoing.
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