Austrian conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz vowed to fight back after suffering the biggest setback of his meteoric career on Monday (May 27) as parliament voted the 32-year-old's government out of office in the wake of a video sting that blew up his coalition with the far right.Kurz was greeted with chants and cheers at the packed venue when he arrived to address his party after his dismissal.Despite his hard fall Kurz remained on fighting form, telling his supporters he was not going anywhere whilst calling for a measured response that was not motivated by rage and hate.Kurz became the head of a caretaker government just days ago and hoped to use that position as a springboard to re-election, depicting himself as more of a victim of the current crisis than its enabler who brought the FPO into power. But the centre-left opposition said he shared the blame, and the FPO backed it.The first successful no-confidence motion against an Austrian government since the country regained its independence in 1955 was passed when lawmakers from the Social Democrats and FPO stood in support. Together they control a majority of seats in the assembly. Kurz's party holds a third of the seats.Kurz had prepared his arguments ahead of the vote, saying he would once again seek a show of strength at the ballot box."Parliament decided today but at the end of the day, in September, in a democracy the people decide," Kurz told a party rally in Vienna after the vote. "I am looking forward to that."Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen must now nominate a new chancellor to put together a caretaker government able to last until the next election, widely expected to be held in September. While he could in principle choose Kurz again, that is highly unlikely. An elder statesman, like a retired president or senior judge, is the more probable.
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