New Austria Chancellor Sworn In As Graft Fallout Swirls

Austria's former Interior Minister Karl Nehammer was sworn in as the country's third chancellor in as many months Monday, after the fallout from a corruption scandal shook his ruling People's Party

Vienna, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Dec, 2021 ) :Austria's former Interior Minister Karl Nehammer was sworn in as the country's third chancellor in as many months Monday, after the fallout from a corruption scandal shook his ruling People's Party.

President Alexander Van der Bellen formally swore Nehammer in at a ceremony at Vienna's Hofburg Palace just after 1 pm local time (1200 GMT).

The previous Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg offered his resignation Thursday, hours after his predecessor and close ally Sebastian Kurz announced he was resigning as head of the conservative People's Party (OeVP) following a corruption scandal.

On Friday the party nominated Nehammer, 49, to take over as party head and chancellor.

Nehammer's first act has been to send Schallenberg back to his previous post as foreign minister and appoint new finance, interior and education ministers.