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Concept
Chancellor of Austria
Summary
The chancellor of the Republic of Austria (Bundeskanzler der Republik Österreich) is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies.
Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), who was sworn in on 6 December 2021 following the resignations of Sebastian Kurz and Alexander Schallenberg, of the same party, as party leader and Chancellor. All three leaders formed a government with the Green Party, the first coalition between these two parties at the federal level. Brigitte Bierlein was the Second Republic's first Kanzlerin, forming a nonpartisan caretaker government between a vote of no confidence in Kurz's first government in June 2019 and the formation of his second in January 2020.
Austria's chancellor chairs and leads the cabinet, which is composed of the chancellor, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Together with the president, who is head of state, the cabinet forms the country's executive branch leadership.
Austria is a parliamentary republic, the system of government in which real power is vested in the head of government. However, in Austria most executive actions of great extent can only be exercised by the president, upon advice or with the countersignature of the chancellor or a specific minister. Therefore the chancellor often requires the president's consent to implement greater decisions. Furthermore neither the ministers nor the vice chancellor report to the chancellor.
In legislature, the chancellor's power depends on the size of their affiliated parliamentary group. In case of a coalition cabinet, the chancellor commonly is the leader of the party most represented in the National Council, with the leader of the party able to grant a majority, usually serving as the vice chancellor.
The first Austrian sovereign head of government was the State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire, a position only held by Klemens von Metternich.
Official source
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