2023-11-24 21:26:10
Short debate in the National Council regarding the investigation into “systematic two-class administration” in the “COFAG investigative committee”
Vienna (PK) – SPÖ and FPÖ used today’s National Council meetingto enter shared desire to introduce a committee of inquiry. The aim is to provide preferential treatment for people who have assets of at least one billion euros and who have supported the ÖVP through donations or whose support was solicited by the ÖVP. The investigations will focus in particular on the federal COVID financing agency (COFAG) and its payments to billionaires close to the People’s Party. According to the request, the period to be examined should extend from December 18, 2017 to November 23, 2023 – the day the request was submitted.
At the same meeting, the ÖVP put forward a request for a “RED-BLUE abuse of power investigation committee”. The People’s Party wants to take a closer look at the periods of government of the SPÖ and FPÖ between 2007 and 2020 with regard to the awarding of advertisements, media cooperation agreements, surveys, reports, studies and orders to agencies.
Short debate: committee of inquiry vs. committee of inquiry
In the plenary session, Kai Jan Krainer (SPÖ), one of the petitioners, emphasized that the overarching goals of the COFAG investigative committee concern the principle of equality before the law and the question of whether this also applies to billionaires or people close to the ÖVP. Recently, the population should have learned that this is not always the case, as he criticized with reference to the billionaires René Benko and Siegfried Wolf mentioned in the request. These, among others, received “exclusive tips and support” from the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of tax avoidance. The requested committee of inquiry should now clarify whether these were isolated cases or systematic preferential treatment within the framework of a “two-class administration”.
Only a finding by the Constitutional Court made the parliamentary investigation into COFAG and its payments possible, explained Krainer, although the Court of Auditors had already found “massive overfunding” in some cases. In addition to COFAG, the investigative committee should also devote itself to the evidentiary topics listed in the request in an “open-ended” manner: “distribution of information and information”, “cooperation between companies close to the state and billionaires close to the ÖVP” and “state supervision”. All four areas must be examined with reference to the principle of equality, said Krainer.
The ÖVP welcomed the COFAG investigation because it was convinced that it had done good work and made a significant contribution to overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, replied Andreas Hangar (ÖVP). However, he criticized that the subject of the investigation only included a certain group, which made its definition unconstitutional and also contradicted the principle of equality. Hanger called for “the entire spectrum” of COFAG funding to be examined and referred to his party’s request at the same meeting for a “RED-BLUE abuse of power investigation committee” in which the investigation would be expanded to include the spheres of influence of the SPÖ and FPÖ should. Hanger used the example of former SPÖ Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who signed a well-paid consulting contract with René Benkos Signa-Holding just three weeks following the end of his term in office.
Christoph Matznetter (SPÖ) described the possibility of calling for a committee of inquiry as part of the opposition’s “principal right” to control the government. This was particularly justified as the establishment of COFAG was one of the “most dubious events in the Republic”. The fact that the ÖVP now wants to set up its own investigative committee is damaging to democracy as a whole, as it creates the impression that all parties should be classified equally “ethically and morally”. Matznetter vigorously denied this.
Christian Hafenecker (FPÖ) saw the establishment of the investigative committee by the FPÖ and SPÖ as a necessity and consequence of the “ÖVP Corruption Investigative Committee”, which had been “turned off” too early to deal with COFAG in detail. COFAG represents a “symbol” of how the “deep state brand ÖVP” works. Hafenecker also saw the ÖVP’s setting up of its own investigative committee as an “embarrassment for a party that still supports the state”.
When there is talk of investigative committees, one should not remain silent regarding the role of National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka, interjected Nina Tomaselli (Greens). He is being criticized because of investigations once morest himself but also because of his “unpresidential behavior” in the context of the last investigative committees. According to Tomaselli, Sobotka must ask himself whether he supports clarification or whether he wants to stand in the way of clarification as chairman of the investigative committees. In general, control, as one of the basic tasks of parliament, should never be exercised through party tactics. It’s regarding “the most meticulous clarification” – especially the role of René Benko, says Tomaselli.
NEOS mandater Nikolaus Scherak saw Austrian politics in general in a “massive crisis of trust”. The image conveyed to the population is “unbearable”. However, this did not come into being recently, but had been built up over decades, criticized Scherak. Instead of learning from past scandals and finally implementing reforms, the ÖVP, SPÖ and FPÖ would “throw mud” at each other, which would cause trust in politics to continue to dwindle. Scherak called for reforms, among other things, of the party law and criminal corruption law.
At the end of the National Council meeting, the FPÖ remained in the minority with its request to set a deadline for the Constitutional Committee to consider its request. This affected the FPÖ demand following a constitutional change that should enable the deselection of National Council presidents. (End of National Council) wit
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