Austria: Top court justice to lead caretaker government

Published May 30, 2019

Austria's president says he will appoint the head of the country's top court to lead a caretaker government until new elections in September following a video scandal that destroyed the previous government.

President Alexander Van der Bellen's decision to name Brigitte Bierlein as interim chancellor comes after the government of Sebastian Kurz lost a confidence vote in parliament Monday.

Kurz pulled the plug on his governing coalition between his right-wing People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party earlier this month. It followed the publication of a video showing Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache appearing to offer lucrative government contracts to a purported Russian investor.

Bierlein has been president of Austria's Constitutional Court since February 2018.

She will propose a Cabinet to Van der Bellen and will be the first female chancellor in Austrian history.

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