VIENNA: Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen appointed the head of the country’s constitutional court as Austria’s first female chancellor on Thursday to lead an interim government until elections later in the year.

Brigitte Bierlein will now be tasked with forming a cabinet after the previous government collapsed spectacularly over the so-called “Ibiza-gate” corruption scandal.

“I will seek to win Austrians’ trust,” Bierlein said alongside Van der Bellen in a televised statement on Thursday, saying she would hold talks with political parties and civil society organisations in the coming days.

Bierlein, 69, has been president of the constitutional court since last year and previously held several other prominent positions as a judge and prosecutor.

The appointment comes after Sebastian Kurz became the first chancellor in Austrian history to be thrown out of office by a no-confidence vote of MPs on Monday.—AFP