Austria’s parliament has voted to remove Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his government from office in a special parliamentary session.
His previous coalition ally, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), backed the motions brought by the opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ).
The FPO had become embroiled in a political scandal caused by a secret video, which ended the coalition.
Austria’s president must now decide who will be chancellor.
This leader will head a caretaker government ahead of elections expected in September.
Mr Kurz, head of the conservative Austrian People’s Party, is the first chancellor in post-war Austrian history to lose a confidence vote.
At 32, he is the world’s youngest state leader.
The SPO brought forward the two no-confidence votes – one against Mr Kurz and the other against the government.
While they control only 52 of the 183-seat lower house, the FPO – who holds 51 seats – agreed to back the motions, which needed only a simple majority to pass.
The left-wing environmentalist JETZT party also voted to oust the chancellor and his government, although the liberal NEOS party reportedly backed Mr Kurz in a bid to avoid instability.
Mr Kurz’s surprise strong showing in Sunday’s European Union elections – with a projected 35 per cent of the vote – was not enough to save him.
On Facebook, he accused the parties of a “game of revenge” ahead of the confidence votes, adding: “But at the end of the day the people will decide, namely in September.”
The parties ranged against Mr Kurz appeared to believe he should shoulder some of the blame for the fall of the coalition.
The Social Democrats say he should never have allied himself with the FPO in the first place. The FPÖ is still smarting from having had Mr Kurz replace all of its ministers with technocrats.
Mr Kurz meanwhile has promoted himself as a bastion of stability amid the turmoil.
It has widely been labeled “Ibiza-gate”, after the Spanish island where the video was recorded.
It was secretly filmed in 2017 just weeks before the election which saw both the FPÖ and Chancellor Kurz’s party perform well.
In the footage, released by German media, Freedom Party leader and vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache can be seen relaxing and drinking for hours at a villa with FPÖ parliament group leader Johann Gudenus, while they meet a woman, purported to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. –BBC
