The state governor opened with an unpleasant global finding: “The form of government of democracy has come under pressure worldwide,” said Thomas Stelzer (VP) in his opening speech. In the 1990s, when the communist regimes had just collapsed, people still thought democracy was on its final triumphant march. “Unfortunately, we were wrong with this assessment.”
This makes events like the democracy symposium, to which the state parliament invited yesterday in the OÖNachrichten-Forum in the Promenade Galleries, all the more important. “The consolidation and further development of democracy is a daily effort.” The entire discussion to watch:
Problem of declining trust
In fact, democracy is in trouble “even in our latitudes,” said the first expert, Martina Zandonella from the Foresight Institute. This usually happens gradually, “when people come to power who restrict the rights of parliaments, the independence of the judiciary or fundamental rights and civil liberties.”
Image: State of Upper Austria/Kauder
The democracy monitor that Foresight (formerly Sora) has been producing since 2018 shows that general trust in the democratic system is not a given in Austria either. As reported several times, this trust has fallen significantly since 2018 due to several crises. There has been at least a slight recovery in the top two income thirds over the past two years, but not in the bottom income third. Zandonella warned that trust would fall even further.
On a philosophical level, Marie-Luisa Frick (University of Innsbruck) discussed dangers, challenges and opportunities for further development of democracy as well as the quality of democratic discourse.
Image: State of Upper Austria/Kauder
After the coffee break, the club chairmen of the six state parliament parties (or their representatives) took their places on the podium. The symposium was organized at the request of the SPÖ, the Greens and Neos. Their expectation that their demands for the abolition of the proportional system in the state government and the expansion of the state parliament’s control rights would also be debated only came true towards the end of the panel discussion.
“Pending demand in the country”
“Aside from Lower Austria, we are the only federal state with a proportional government,” said Green Party leader Severin Mayr. “And we are the only federal state where the minority is not able to set up an investigative committee in the state parliament. So we have a lot of catching up to do in order to reach the average standard of the other federal states.”
SP constitutional spokesman Tobias Höglinger said: “Every local council member in Upper Austria has more rights to inspect files than a member of the state parliament in the state of Upper Austria. We have a lot of room for improvement.”
And Neos club boss Felix Eypeltauer also stated his desire for more control rights and an end to proportional representation. “The proportional system is only good for the strongest and their stirrup holders,” he said. MFG club boss Manuel Krautgartner expressed, in addition to a lot of media criticism, the general desire for innovations in the political system. For example, citizen participation must be “significantly increased.”
ÖVP and FPÖ defended the proportional representation system in the state government. “This is the model of a community government,” said VP club leader Christian Dörfel, referring to Switzerland, which is often cited as a democratic model and whose federal government is also formed according to the proportional representation model. FP club leader Herwig Mahr said: “If a party has a certain size, then it should have a say in the government and prove what work it is doing.”
The question of how trust in politics might be increased once more also took up a lot of space in the panel discussion. VP club boss Dörfel saw, among other things, a communication problem. “We are all so focused on our issues and speak a language that is often not understood,” he said. “One step must be to speak more clearly and to awaken interest in politics.” FP club boss Mahr also had a recipe: “Politicians have to stop making promises that they then cannot keep.”
A state parliament president in the hospital
In her closing words, the Second President of the State Parliament, Sabine Binder (FP), was pleased with the “decisive inputs” from the event. She represented the First President of the State Parliament Max Hiegelsberger (VP), who is currently in hospital with a broken rib following an accident at work and followed the event via live stream.
Quotes
- “One step must be to speak more clearly and to awaken interest in politics.” – Christian DörfelVP club boss and his recipe for more trust
- “Politicians must stop making promises that they cannot keep.” – Herwig Mahrthe FP club boss also gives a suggestion
- “Every local council representative has more rights to inspect files than we members of the state parliament.” – Tobias Hoeglingerthe SP deputy club boss advocates reforms
- “We have a lot of catching up to do to reach the average standard of the other federal states.” – Severin MayrGreen Party leader, also for reforms
- “We have to dedicate ourselves to new things. Citizen participation needs to be increased significantly.” – Manuel KrautgartnerMFG Club Manager
- “Proportion is only good for the strongest and their stirrup holders.” –Felix Eypeltauer, Neos-Klubchef
Author
Markus Staudinger
Managing editor, deputy Head of Politics Department
Markus Staudinger
