2023-08-06 05:29:22
Tyrol’s LH Anton Mattle (ÖVP) goes one step further than the ÖVP federal party and other top representatives of the People’s Party on the matter of the FPÖ: he not only rejects a coalition with the FPÖ with the participation of party leader Herbert Kickl, but also if the blue party program is retained, said Mattle in the APA interview and put a complete stop to the freedomists. Instead, he apparently preferred a coalition with the SPÖ: “That would be a viable option.”
“A coalition with this FPÖ federal party chairman and this party program that is available cannot be associated with my political values and I reject it,” said Mattle. When asked whether he would also vote accordingly in the ÖVP federal committees following the upcoming National Council elections, if such a coalition issue were to be voted on, the governor replied: “I have already proven that if I said something, then I said it also applied later.” Mattle alluded to his announcement made in the last state election campaign that he would not enter into a coalition with the state FPÖ in Tyrol. “The FPÖ only polarizes and with this polarization contributes to the division of society,” Mattle said: “I cannot support that.”
According to Mattle, many things in the FPÖ party program are a thorn in the side. As an example, he named the security policy as essential and in particular the blue rejection of the missile protection umbrella program “Sky Shield”: “Security in the sense of military neutrality is very important. The FPÖ policy is one that is directed once morest the security of Austria.” He is concerned with his own values and those of the People’s Party. In addition, there are many other issues that prompted his stance, according to Mattle: “The repayment of corona penalties promoted by the FPÖ, for example. I think that’s questionable in terms of democratic politics, following all, the measures at the time were decided with a majority.”
On the other hand, the governor can do something with a possible new edition of the former “grand coalition” of ÖVP and SPÖ. “I can definitely get something out of it. That would be a viable way in terms of a policy of the center,” said Mattle, who has governed the country with the SPÖ since last October. But Mattle warned SPÖ leader Andreas Babler that there was a need for political change: “The chairman still needs some time to get used to it. He has to deviate from extreme left-wing positions.”
Mattle was noticeably reserved regarding the “normality debate” that the ÖVP had fueled and initiated in recent weeks. “Maybe it’s good for society if it can also discuss such things. It won’t get us any further in actual political work,” said the governor. “For me, normality is also diversity. We will live with that. If you look at the ‘society of the middle’, then this is a diverse society,” Mattle struck a different note than Chancellor and federal party chairman Karl Nehammer and Lower Austria’s governor Johanna Mikl Leitner. Even the “silent majority” coined by Mikl-Leitner, which must be given a vote, doesn’t appeal to the Tyrolean head of state: “I don’t think there is a ‘silent majority’. Everyone has the opportunity to cast their vote in an election to give – that does not mean that one is silent.” But Mattle did see an extreme polarization in society: “I reject left and right extremes. It needs a ‘centre policy’. This has led to social security and prosperity in Austria.” And the People’s Party stands for this “centrist politics” and must stand for it.
In any case, Nehammer is undisputed as party chairman and will also lead the party in the upcoming National Council elections. Mattle did not see a possible comeback by ex-Chancellor and ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz on the horizon: “I think that’s very unlikely.” Mattle was convinced that the coalition with the Greens would last until the scheduled election date in the coming year.
When asked whether the party’s very controversial MEP Othmar Karas should once more become the ÖVP’s top candidate in the EU elections next spring, the governor also answered very reservedly or evasively: “It’s true that Karas is very controversial. I’ll sit down in any case, ensure that our Tyrolean MP Barbara Thaler is ranked in an eligible position.”
When it comes to the number one federal-state topic, the negotiations on fiscal equalization, Mattle spoke out once morest a constitutional lawsuit, such as that brought into play by Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ). “I definitely don’t think much of threatening gestures at the moment,” Mattle said clearly. He is convinced that an agreement will be reached and that the existing financial equalization does not have to be continued. “The ten billion euros over five years offered by the federal government are definitely not enough to maintain the quality of health, care and education. Maybe it has to and will be 17 billion fresh money.” In any case, the current offer from the federal government signals more of a financial equalization “in the horizontal area – that additional expenses are not compensated in general, but in the individual areas”. However, his basic demand remains: in vertical financial equalization, 25 percent for the federal states and 15 percent for the municipalities or equivalent compensation in the areas of health, care and education.
(The interview was conducted by Wolfgang Eder/APA)
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