Overview
- After long talks between regional party chiefs, Andreas Babler said on Sunday that he will step down in a managed process and share immediate leadership with Eva‑Maria Holzleitner and Philip Kucher.
- The interim trio will run the party while Babler plans a full resignation next year and a party congress will elect a permanent leader.
- Babler said he intends for Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer to become vice‑chancellor and likely successor, but Marterbauer is undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma and has not publicly agreed to lead the party.
- Babler will remain minister for media, culture and housing and said he will push ahead with a contested reform of state media funding that had drawn fierce tabloid criticism.
- The handover leaves the party facing months of internal debate because SPÖ rules require direct member votes if multiple candidates run, and the party’s weak poll ratings around 15 percent raise risks for coalition stability.