With his large-scale “Styria Speech”, Governor Christopher Drexler ushered in the election year on the eve of St. Joseph’s Day, Styria’s national holiday. He became clear about juvenile crime, bureaucracy and the performance principle.
Former governors and ministers of the ÖVP state, state councilors, greats from business, science and culture, and an inveterate butcher as a ‘whipper’: for his ‘Styria speech’ on the eve of St. Joseph’s Day, Christopher Drexler gathered everyone in the hall of the Old University of Graz has rank and name in our state. Just like Chancellor Karl Nehammer with his ‘Austria plan’, the governor of Styria hits the dark cornerstones of the election campaign with his hour-long ‘situation briefing’. And substantively it tries to undermine both the FPÖ and the KPÖ: a little to the right, a little to the left, the best of both worlds, so to speak. Or as the ÖVP says: We are the middle!
Drexler believes that the mood in the country is currently gloomy, that there is pessimism, ‘too much pessimism’: ‘The task of politicians is to recognize such developments and understand the fears.’ In this context, the head of the country condemns the incomprehensible acts of violence of recent weeks, the rapes of children by young people with a migrant background: “We have seen that the response of our justice system has been to release most of the suspected perpetrators. Is that the right way to handle it? And is that the way we want to be treated as a liberal, enlightened society?”
“The legal system must change”
According to the Styrian ÖVP chairman, one should not go back to the order of the day, which proposes lowering the age of criminal liability – following the example of Switzerland, where this starts at the age of ten. “I have no doubt that our justice system needs to change!” To this end, the state leader will convene a summit of experts after Easter.
Drexler, whose brow is now furrowed with anger and worry, also talks about the country’s mania for regulation. Too much bureaucracy, too much regulation and too much paternalism hurt companies. Here too we need to take a step back: “I therefore want every law, every regulation, every rule to be put to the test.” Approving nod from the business representatives, much applause. As is the case with the issue of climate protection, where the state government insists on a sense of proportion. You must implement consistent measures, but you must also use common sense: “We will not save the global climate in Styria.”
Does Drexler only discuss affordable housing because the KPÖ is on the rise? No, say his advisors, that would have been on the ÖVP’s agenda anyway. Well, the country’s head is promising to “change course to make properties and rental prices more affordable again.” A ‘living package’ will be presented before the summer.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
