Austria’s president intervenes in government crisis – politics

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is now also intervening in the government crisis in Austria. The head of state will speak to the heads of all parliamentary parties on Thursday and Friday, announced the presidential office of the Austrian news agency APA. The start on Thursday afternoon will be the Green Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and the Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), who is suspected of corruption. Later, SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner was asked to Van der Bellen. The head of the liberal Neos and the head of the right-wing FPÖ, Beate Meinl-Reisinger and Herbert Kickl, will follow on Friday.

After a raid in the Chancellery, the Ministry of Finance and the ÖVP party headquarters, the pressure on Austria’s Chancellor increased on Thursday. His coalition partner, the Greens, also questioned Kurz’s ability to act and announced talks with the leaders of the other national council parties about how to proceed. “We can not go over to the agenda, the ability of the Federal Chancellor to act is questioned against this background,” said Kogler, the Vice Chancellor and the Greens leader. “We have to ensure stability and order.” The day before, the opposition had called for Kurz to resign.

The liberal Neos accused him of “clear incapacity for office” and called for a fresh start for the country. “It can’t go on like this,” said the leader of the opposition party, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, on Thursday. The country needs a clean government. New elections are not necessary for this. Chancellor Kurz shame with his refusal to resign the country and the office.

Kurz tried again on Wednesday evening to refute the prosecution’s allegations of corruption. There is absolutely no indication that he is personally involved in, for example, commissioning opinion polls that are favorable for him or in placing advertisements, said Kurz in the ORF news program “ZiB2” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/ . “All of these allegations that exist are directed against employees of the Ministry of Finance,” emphasized Kurz. The fact that polls were manipulated in his favor is absurd because dozens of polls in the 2016 period in question revealed very similar values ​​for parties and politicians. Kurz ruled out a resignation.

It’s about positive reporting bought with taxpayers’ money

The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) had the Chancellery, the Ministry of Finance and the ÖVP headquarters searched on Wednesday. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating Kurz and some of his close confidants on suspicion of breach of trust, bribery and corruption. The team around the 35-year-old head of government is said to have bought positive reporting in a tabloid medium with tax money since 2016 in order to pave the way from Kurz to the party leadership and to the Chancellery. A brief confidante in the Ministry of Finance is said to have played an important role in raising the funds.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, the possibly manipulated survey results were published in the editorial section of an Austrian daily newspaper and other media belonging to this group – without being declared as an advertisement.

According to the authority, there is a suspicion that in return the public officials made payments to the media company as part of media and advertising cooperations. The evidence found in the course of the house searches would now be viewed and evaluated, according to the WKStA. The media group denies the allegations. At no point in time had there been an agreement between the media group “Austria” and the Ministry of Finance to pay for surveys through advertisements, the company said.

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