W.ien-Meidling, the political academy of the Austrian People’s Party, when it is drizzling: The setting is in every respect suitable for Sebastian Kurz to announce his complete withdrawal from politics. Not only because of the weather, but also for telling a circle that is being rounded or a section that is coming to an end. A decade ago, then ÖVP chairman Michael Spindelegger presented his government team here, with Kurz, who was 24 years old at the time, as a big surprise. Kurz himself de facto took over the leadership of the party in 2017 when he announced his own readiness after the resignation of the ÖVP boss (his name was now Reinhold Mitterlehner). It was May, appropriately bright sunshine.
So now the resignation. Briefly explained his reasons. Spoke of positions and convictions that would have guided him in his actions, of the joy and hardship of politics, thanked fellow campaigners and companions, sponsors and former advisers. He was clearly trying not to leave the impression of a farewell in bitterness – unlike, for example, Mitterlehner, whom he himself had overthrown at the time. As the reason for the complete withdrawal, he stated that the necessary one hundred percent enthusiasm was no longer there in view of the “developments of the last few months”.
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