Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced at on Saturday that the country would have fresh elections in the wake of a major scandal involving nowformer-Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, DW reported.

Kurz praised the fact that his Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) had been able to see through many of its campaign promises with the help of Strache’s far-right Freedom Party of  Austria (FPÖ), but the chancellor said that “enough is enough” after the latest FPÖ embarrassment. He said he has asked President Alexander Van der Bellen for a new national vote.

“I promised voters I would remain true to myself, no matter what,” Kurz said, declaring that he had withdrawn the ÖVP from the government. “I said I would always do what is right and what is necessary.”

Kurz went on to describe a string of anti-Semitic scandals committed by  FPÖ members, calling them “hard to swallow.” He accused the Freedom Party of damaging the good work he had tried to do for the country.

“This is not what our country needs. I am not in politics to hold this office…but to work for our beautiful country,” Kurz said.

Thousands of people had been protesting outside the chancellery in Vienna all day, calling for a new government.