Vienna, Nov 4 (AFP) Prominent Austrian politician PeterPilz quit today as head of his newly formed anti-establishmentparty over sexual harassment allegations.
"I've always fought for strict standards and thesestandards also apply to me," the 63-year-old said in astatement.
The announcement came after news weekly Falter confrontedhim early today with allegations of sexual misconduct.
A young woman told the newspaper that a very inebriatedPilz had groped her in 2013 at a major annual discussion forumin the western town of Alpbach.
"His hands were everywhere," she was quoted as saying byFalter.
The woman said two other forum participants eventuallydragged the politician away.
Pilz said he could not remember the incident, but tookthe allegations "extremely serious".
However, Pilz rejected claims made last week by a femaleGreens member who also accused him of fondling her on dozensof occasions when he was still with the party.
He said he would fight the allegations in court.
Pilz is an old hand in Austrian politics, having co-founded the Greens party in 1986.
He split in July and formed an anti-establishment partydubbed the "Pilz List" which won four seats in last month'ssnap election.
He said he would continue to advise the "Pilz List", madeup of artists, academics and entrepreneurs.
The Austrian joins a growing queue of notable men fromHollywood to Brussels and London who face allegations ofsexual harassment or worse.
The first major headline on the issue was in October withdisgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein, but has sinceensnared movie stars Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman,Britain's former defence minister Michael Fallon and seniorEuropean Parliament staff. (AFP)MRJ.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.