Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is quitting politics, Austrian media reported Thursday.
The 35-year-old Kurz, who is still leader of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), served as chancellor from 2017 until 2019 and again from 2020 until 2021. He left the chancellery earlier this year when he was mired in a corruption probe. His first term in office also ended in a similar fashion, following the so-called Ibiza Scandal.
Kurz became a father last month and said this triggered his decision. The former chancellor said he had an epiphany when he saw his son for the first time.
The ÖVP scheduled a press conference for Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to provide more details on Kurz’s decision.
Kurz was succeeded as chancellor in October by Alexander Schallenberg, and Austrian media reported that Interior Minister Karl Nehammer is poised to take over from him as party leader.
A political talent sometimes dubbed “Wunderwuzzi” — whizzkid — in Austria, Kurz rose to international prominence in 2013, when he became foreign minister at the age of 27. He subsequently undertook a large-scale reform of the ÖVP, centered around himself.
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<p><img width="720" height="405" src="https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Julius-Abure-LP.jpg" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="NLC Protesters Storm Labour Party Secretariat, Call For Abure's Sack" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Julius-Abure-LP.jpg 720w, https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Julius-Abure-LP-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></p>
<h2>The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Political Commission, on Friday, said <a href="https://www.naijanews.com/topic/julius-abure/">Julius Abure</a> is no longer the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).</h2>
<p>The commission said that Abure’s claim that Wednesday’s picketing of the national secretariat of the Party led to the theft of staff salary was “sarcastic and pathetic.”</p>
<p>The commission said this in a statement by its Secretary, Comrade Chris Uyot on Friday.</p>
<p>The statement reads, <em>“Following this week’s successful take-over of Labour Party Secretariats nationwide by the Nigeria Labour Congress who are the real owners of the party, Mr. Julius Abure’s silhouette continues to hide from the long arms of the law over various allegations and charges bordering on criminality. It is unfortunate that instead of courageously coming out to the open to defend himself against several fingers pointing in his direction, Mr. Abure has adopted the cowardly posture of crouching in the undergrowth of shame, lies, treachery and infamy to lay fictitious claims against a dignified, focused and honourable institution like the Nigeria Labour Congress.</em></p>
<p><em>“First is to make the point clear that Mr. Julius Abure has since ceased from being the Chairman of the Labour Party. Second, his latest missive that the successful takeover of the Labour Party Secretariat by workers who are the party’s rightful owners resulted in the theft of staff salaries is sarcastic and pathetic. It is unfortunate that Mr Abure has surrendered himself to the laboratory of public opprobrium on how the mind of an incorrigible liar, visionless usurper, timid traitor, and serial scammer works.</em></p>
<p><em>“The reclaiming of Labour Party Secretariats across the country was witnessed by many policemen, officers from the State Security Service, and many journalists including television crews. The import of Mr. Abure’s fictitious claim is that the police, other security agents and tens of journalists who observed the peaceful visit by the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission were accessory to the crime of petty theft. We expect the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to add this outrageous defamation to the long list of crimes perpetrated by Mr. Abure.</em></p>
<p><em>“During the nationwide peaceful reclaim of Labour Party’s secretariats, not even one canister of tear gas was fired as the picketing was conducted in tandem with the NLC’s philosophy and disposition to peaceful protests. For Abure to concoct such daylight falsehood clearly proves to all Nigerians that he carries moral leprosy and must be avoided at all costs. The inconsistency in Abure’s account – from allegations of missing billions now to the theft of workers’ salaries and destruction of valuables – clearly confirms our earlier assessment of him as a drowning political wannabe.</em></p>
<p><em>“After being rejected by all stakeholders in the Labour Party, we urge Mr. Julius Abure to show his face in public. He should not hide underground and be vomiting gibberish. The few insignificant scoundrels still hanging on to Abure’s tattered pockets of ill-gotten coins, including irresponsible grandfathers who have committed class suicide and show no visible means of livelihood, and who now appear on television to lie on Labour Party ownership must remember that history’s judgement on traitors is very dire.</em></p>
<p><em>“As for Abure, his cup of moral rascality, administrative indiscretion and political incompetence overflows. The Nigeria Labour Congress intends to institute a private legal process against him for the defamation of the noble character of the Congress. He should also be ready to answer questions on why he kept staff salaries in the office a self-admission to financial impropriety, sleaze, and disdain for due process cum accountability.</em></p>
<p><em>“While the security agents intensify their nationwide manhunt for Mr. Julius Abure and his ‘food is ready’ partners in perfidy, the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission wishes to remind all Nigerian workers and people that our focus can never be a tiny chameleon who lives under the coarse cannon of common criminality and fodders of low level infamy. We are focussed on fumigating and ridding the Labour Party of rodents whose only source of livelihood and survival is in picking on the mahogany of ideological and moral clarity that the Labour Party of Nigeria represents.</em></p>
<p><em>“Labour Party must be thoroughly cleansed and repositioned as the vehicle for the socio- economic emancipation of all Nigerian workers and people.”</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.naijanews.com/2024/03/22/abure-no-longer-labour-partys-chairman-nlc/">Abure No Longer Labour Party’s Chairman – NLC</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.naijanews.com">Naija News</a>.</p>