Little memory, much disappointment. This has often been the case in committees lately. But on Thursday there was a lot of talk. The two ex-ministers Wolfgang Brandstetter and Eckart Ratz were almost unstoppable.
“Wolfi, it’s over”, reads on a file container. But Wolfgang Sobotka sticks to it. Despite investigations by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA). The President of the National Council continues to chair “ÖVP and Corruption”. The allegations of abuse of office are unfounded. Sobotka demands a quick clarification. That’s what ex-Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter asked on Thursday. He confessed, “I tend to be talkative.” He let it be known. His flow of words was barely controllable. Poor parliamentary stenographers.
Suspended section head Christian Pilnacek is alleged to have betrayed Brandstetter in 2019 during his time as a lawyer to search a client’s home. There are conversations and investigations. It is the presumption of innocence. Pilnacek didn’t tell him anything. “I got the information from the media. The search could take place at any moment.’ Brandstetter resigned as constitutional judge, saying he had become a “burden” on the Constitutional Court. It was a mistake to become a constitutional lawyer after ministerial office. A “cool down” would have been good, he knows today. There was a lively exchange with Pilnacek. Also as a lawyer. Julia Herr (SPÖ) wanted to know if that was normal. Remarkable answer: “In important cases you want to know what options are available for the client.” How many times has that happened? “Very rare.”
Brandstetter defended the occupation of current OGH Vice-President Eva Marek as head of the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2014, though two other women stood before her — including WKStA boss Ilse Vrabl-Sanda. “I still stand by it today. What a committee proposes is not always the Bible.”
Accusations against Kurz? “There’s nothing wrong with it”
It continued eloquently. Eckart Ratz, ex-OGH president and interior minister after Ibiza (May 22 to June 3, 2019), reported on the tensions between the senior prosecutor’s office SOKO and the WKStA. He thinks highly of OStA Fuchs and Pilnacek. From the WKStA bit. “It’s not politically tainted. It’s legal missteps.” In providing evidence, house searches, withdrawing from investigations. Ratz was also outraged that personal chats ended up in files. “The WKStA is not a state within a state. Their allegations against ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz? “There is nothing wrong with it .”
“He should be shot!”
When asked if he knew of political influence over proceedings, the short-lived interior minister reacted rather violently: “He should be shot!” he exclaimed, meaning politicians trying to do such a thing. Ratz also gave a humorous and eloquent answer when asked how he became interior minister in the interim government. During a train journey to Vienna, he was called by Kurz’s chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, and asked: “and I say I can, a fool”. The circumstances in the ministry itself made him less enthusiastic at the time. Neither a computer nor an organization chart were initially available to him.
Source: Krone
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