Holzleitner to help steer SPÖ leadership transition

Eva-Maria Holzleitner will help lead the Social Democratic Party of Austria’s transition at the top, ORF reported, as Andreas Babler prepares to step back from the party leadership. Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer is expected to become vice-chancellor at the turn of the year.

Holzleitner and parliamentary group leader Philip Kucher are to form a joint leadership supporting Babler until Marterbauer potentially takes over. Some party members say their role will also be to keep a close watch on him.

Holzleitner had said on Saturday that she was not available for a leadership role, even as an interim solution. On Monday, she told Ö1’s morning news programme that the party wanted an orderly transition. Previous changes at the top had involved sudden resignations, leaving it unclear who would take over and how the process would work, she said.

Holzleitner said she and Kucher would work to build bridges and unite the party, adding that it had failed to achieve unity for a decade and needed to regain public trust.

The pair are officially set to oversee the transition. If Marterbauer’s cancer treatment goes well, he is expected to become vice-chancellor at the end of the year. It remains unclear whether he will seek the party leadership at its spring congress. Holzleitner has said she does not intend to be a permanent party leader.