Designated Chancellor of Austria and designated leader of the Austrian People's Party OVP Karl Nehammer attends a news conference in Vienna, Austria, 3 December 2021;
Credit: Reuters / Lisi Niesner
VIENNA (Reuters) - Immigration hardliner Karl Nehammer will be sworn in as Austrian chancellor on Monday, the presidency said, after being thrust into leadership by tumult among his conservative People's Party following the resignation of fallen star Sebastian Kurz.
Karl Nehammer, 49, succeeded Mr Kurz as party chief on Friday and will lead the coalition government with the Greens.
He takes over a party in disarray since Sebastian Kurz stepped down as chancellor in October because he had been placed under criminal investigation on suspicion of corruption offences. Mr Kurz denies wrongdoing.
President Alexander Van der Bellen will swear in Mr Nehammer, who is now interior minister, at Monday's ceremony, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday.
Karl Nehammer, a former soldier and communications adviser, has said he plans to maintain the central law-and-order themes of Mr Kurz's two stints as chancellor since 2017.
He also said fighting the coronavirus would be a top priority. Austria is in lockdown as authorities seek to ease pressure on hospitals dealing with high infection rates.
Sebastian Kurz's resignation as party leader on Thursday sent shockwaves through the party and prompted two of his closest allies, current Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel, to say they too would step down.
Mr Schallenberg had been in the job for less than two months.
Mr Bluemel is under investigation in a separate corruption case and also denies wrongdoing. Both he and Mr Kurz said that having newborn children had motivated their decisions.
(Reporting by Michael Shields and Francois Murphy; Editing by Helen Popper)
