2023-11-10 17:44:38
The Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce President Christoph Walser (ÖVP) announced his resignation on Friday followingnoon. In a statement, he himself spoke of “personal reasons” and at the same time admitted that he “did not always give his role and responsibility as an entrepreneur the necessary space.” As a spokeswoman for the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office explained to the APA, an investigation into financial crimes is underway once morest Walser.
The spokeswoman did not want to provide further details regarding the starting point and status of the investigation or the specific allegations, citing the relevant regulations. In addition to his work as President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce and mayor of the municipality of Thaur, Walser runs a transport company. According to the company, around 60 employees are employed there.
The 48-year-old himself did not want to comment on the ongoing proceedings once morest him when asked by the APA. This also applies to the future, he noted. To protect himself and his family, this decision is “the only right and necessary one in order to face the task at hand professionally and responsibly.” “Dealing with this situation now requires all our strength and concentration,” is all he said. Walser also announced that he would also be resigning from his mayoralty, his functions in the Tyrolean Economic Association and his office as President of the Tyrolean Tennis Association.
“The five years of my time as President of the Chamber of Commerce were marked by crises and brief glimmers of hope,” Walser looked back. These years “demanded a lot” from him and “left their mark.” In his personal statement, Walser gave a lot of space to thanking his team at the Chamber of Commerce. He particularly praised Economic Association Chairman Abg. Franz Hörl (ÖVP): “As parliamentary group leader, he will ensure that there is no vacuum in the Chamber of Commerce and that the representation of interests continues to function smoothly.” It was initially unclear who would succeed Walser.
Hörl announced that he would now convene the “highest committees in the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Association”. Walser’s resignation – also as deputy state chairman in the ÖVP economic association – was “a highly personal decision and therefore should be respected.” He thanked Walser for his “passionate commitment”: “This time, which was also characterized by Corona, was enormously challenging for the economy and it was here that Walser made an important contribution to stabilization.”
Walser himself now wanted to put a “clear focus on the next steps that are now necessary”: “Steps that affect me and my immediate living environment. I therefore ask for your understanding for this decision, which is a difficult but all the more important for me.”
Walser’s resignation ended – at least prematurely – a political career that began with hope and always gave rise to career speculation. The 48-year-old transport entrepreneur was elected at the end of 2018 as the successor to the long-time president and ÖVP veteran Jürgen Bodenseer. And from that moment on, the publicity-conscious Walser always strived to find appropriate media coverage. Be it when he recommended that the then state governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) give up the tourism agenda for alleged reasons of excessive demands or when he wanted to “highlight” Platter as a federal presidential candidate in an APA interview. During the Corona period, when Tyrol was under constant media fire for a long time, Walser also repeatedly attracted attention with pithy sayings towards Vienna.
Despite or perhaps because of all this and also because of his affability and energy, he was long considered a hope for the future of the state ÖVP. And he himself only made a very secret secret of the fact that he might definitely imagine himself in the office of state governor. In the end, Walser didn’t get a chance, and Platter “lifted” the current head of the country, Anton Mattle, into the successor position. Walser came away empty-handed and has been somewhat politically sidelined since the state elections in 2022.
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