Karl Nehammer, Austria's interior minister, is set to be sworn in as the country's third chancellor in as many months on Monday, ending the political stalemate of the past few days in the country.
President Alexander Van der Bellen is expected to formally swear in Nehammer at a ceremony at Vienna's Hofburg Palace at around 1 p.m. local time (12 p.m. GMT).
Current Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg offered his resignation on Thursday, hours after his predecessor and close ally Sebastian Kurz announced he was resigning as head of the conservative People's Party (OVP) in the wake of a corruption scandal.
On Friday the OVP nominated Nehammer, 49, to take over as party head and chancellor.
Kurz's resignation also prompted that of his close confidante Gernot Bluemel as finance minister.
Nehammer's first act has been to conduct a Cabinet reshuffle, sending Schallenberg back to his previous post as foreign minister and appointing new finance, interior and education ministers.
The OVP is hoping its coalition government with the Green party will now be able to move on from the saga surrounding Kurz.
The scandal that brought down Kurz – who in 2017 became the world's youngest democratically elected head of government at 31 – erupted in early October.
Prosecutors ordered raids at his office and the finance ministry over allegations that Kurz's inner circle used public money to pay for polls tailored to boost his image and ensure positive coverage in one of the country's biggest tabloids.
Kurz has denied any wrongdoing, saying he hopes to have his day in court to prove his innocence.
Kurz wrested control of the OVP in 2017 and won two elections.
A hardline anti-immigration stance – shared by Nehammer – was key to his success.
However, the OVP's first coalition collapsed in 2019 when the far-right junior partner became engulfed in a corruption scandal.
That precipitated early elections in 2019 which Kurz again won, forming a coalition with the Greens.
After stepping down as chancellor in October, he had been widely viewed as biding his time for a political comeback, but announced on Thursday that he was leaving politics to spend more time with his partner and newborn son.
In contrast to Kurz, who had concentrated power around himself and a small group of trusted aides, under Nehammer the party's traditionally powerful regional heads are expected to wield more influence.
Born in Vienna, Nehammer worked in the army for several years before becoming a communications adviser.
He became a lawmaker in 2017 and interior minister in January 2020 months before Austria faced its first extremist attack, which killed four people last November.
He now faces the immediate challenge of steering the country through a difficult winter under the shadow of a fresh wave of the coronavirus.
Austria went back into a partial lockdown on November 22 to combat rising case numbers and pressure on intensive care units.
It was also the first country in the EU to announce it would make vaccination compulsory, with draft legislation for the measure due this week.
Over the medium term Nehammer will also be hoping to salvage the OVP's poll ratings.
It has slumped to second place behind the centre-left Social Democrats since the scandal around Kurz broke.
