Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen appointed the head of the country’s constitutional court as Austria’s first female chancellor to lead an interim government until elections later in the year. Brigitte Bierlein will now be tasked with forming a cabinet after the previous government collapsed over the so-called “Ibiza-gate” corruption scandal.
Bierlein, 69, has been president of the constitutional court since last year and previously held several other prominent positions as a judge and prosecutor. The appointment comes after Sebastian Kurz became the first chancellor in Austrian history to be thrown out of office by a no-confidence vote of MPs on Monday.
The crisis began with the publication of hidden-camera footage in which former Freedom Party (FPOe) leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christan Strache appeared to offer public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian investor in exchange for help in the 2017 parliamentary election campaign.
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