Austria's president has recommended a new election be held in early September, saying he wants to restore trust in the government after a video scandal led to the resignation of the vice chancellor.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pulled the plug on the coalition and called for a snap election on Saturday after his deputy, Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, quit over a video showed him discussing fixing state contracts in return for favours.
It is most important that Austrians are given the chance of a new start to rebuild trust in its government, President Alexander van der Bellen said in a statement at his Hofburg residence in Vienna.
"This new beginning should take place quickly, as quickly as the provisions of the Federal Constitution permit, so I plead for elections ... in September, if possible at the beginning of September," the president said.
Strache has described the video sting as a "targeted political assassination" and said it never led to any money changing hands. He insisted the only crime that took place was illegally videotaping a private dinner party.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Van der Bellen and Kurz said at their joint news conference that stability was a main priority for them for the coming months.
Kurz repeated that he saw the snap elections as the only way to solve the crisis. "The new elections were a necessity, not a wish," he said.
The make-up of a caretaker government remained unclear a day after the 18-month-old coalition of conservatives and the far right collapsed.
