Allegedly, the phones in the state fire brigade association have not been ringing since the morning: numerous firefighters would complain regarding an e-mail in which the campaigning state councilor Gottfried Waldhäusl is campaigning for the preferential vote of the comrades, according to fire department spokesman Franz Resperger.
The e-mail sent to noe.ORF.at says: “Perhaps it is possible for you to support us by passing on a few lines to your comrades and friends in your area, for example via WhatsApp .” And: “Anyone who wants politics with heart, brain and common sense to continue to exist in Lower Austria can contribute – directly with a preferential vote for Gottfried Waldhäusl in the LT election on January 29th, 2023.”
“Fire departments are non-partisan”
The state fire brigade association condemned the letter. “The fact that a politician uses fire department e-mail addresses in the course of the state election campaign to advertise for himself causes a lot of trouble within the fire department all day long,” said spokesman Franz Resperger: “We expressly emphasize and that emphatically: The fire brigades are non-partisan.” Deputy commander Martin Boyer emphasizes on Facebook that they do not want to be used for party political purposes.
State councilor Gottfried Waldhäusl has no understanding for the outrage of the state fire brigade association. Waldhäusl sharply rejects the allegation of party-political influence and distinguishes between party and preferential vote . “There is no party in the letter, it’s just a request for preferential votes, no more and no less,” Waldhäusl told noe.ORF.at. In fact, the FPÖ is not mentioned in the letter.
shipment notice
“Radio Lower Austria Journal”, January 20, 2023
“If someone doesn’t want the e-mail, they can delete it,” says Waldhäusl, emphasizing that it must be possible for a politician to solicit preferential votes by e-mail. The Waldhäusl team took over the 1,100 addresses manually from public websites, explains the politician. He also received a lot of positive feedback, emphasizes the state councilor. According to Waldhäusl, those who were outraged would themselves pursue party politics in the fire service.
