Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, next to Interior Minister Eckart Ratz, attends a session of the Parliament in Vienna, Austria on May 27, 2019.
The move comes just after Kurz celebrated a big win for his conservative People's Party in Sunday's European elections, which is projected to gain 34.9 percent of the vote and two extra European Parliament seats. That's expected to happen within the next week, and that provisional government will govern until new elections in September.The move comes in the wake of the so-called "Ibiza-gate" scandal, which saw FPOe leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache resign from both posts after he was caught appearing to offer public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian backer.
Speaking in parliament before the vote, Kurz accused the opposition of causing instability with the motion against his government but said if the vote succeeded, he would ensure an orderly transition to whoever is appointed next. Amid a welter of embarrassing comments, Strache appeared to allude to a scheme channelling political donations through FPOe-linked foundations in order to avoid legal scrutiny.
Since the crisis broke, he has projected himself as a paragon of stability in a turbulent political climate, and analysts say this will be a key message for him to use.