Austria's former Federal Chancellor Christian Kern wants to resign from his post as chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) at the latest after the 2019 European elections. He announced this at a meeting of the SPÖ country party chiefs.
He justified the move with his desire to switch to European politics. Kern is to represent the SPÖ in the European elections in May as a leading candidate. Since May 2016 he was head of the Social Democrats and until the formation of the ÖVP-FPÖ government after the parliamentary elections in October Austrian Chancellor.
In the SPÖ, there had recently been a power struggle, among others, between Kern and the former Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil. Doskozil, who just a few days ago was elected SPÖ country chief in Burgenland, had harshly criticized the party program of the SPÖ, which had already been approved by party committees and the base, and warned against a "green-left fundi policy".
So far, there were many indications that Kern would be confirmed as party leader at a party congress in Wels on 6 October. A successor to the post of SPÖ leader is not yet known.
Kern had made a career in the state-related economy. Most recently, from 2010 to 2016, he was Chairman of the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB. The 52-year-old followed in spring 2016 as SPÖ boss and chancellor on Werner Faymann.
Social Democrats reached 26.9 percent in the 2017 parliamentary elections. But they had to defy challenger Sebastian Kurz of the ÖVP, whose hard course in migration policy strengthened its popularity. Recent polls saw the SPÖ at 28 percent.