Turquoise-green crisis – Minister of Justice goes into hiding, contempt reigns

The statements made the day after the great crisis show how deep the rifts are. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) accused Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) of “blind activism” and called her a “climate gluer”. A Green MP replied in an interview with the ‘Krone’: ‘The Turquoises are running around like climate deniers and telling horror stories about the renaturation law.’

“No more wine growing in the Wachau”
For example, the ÖVP claims that the scheme will ensure that wine is no longer grown in the Wachau and that agricultural areas will shrink by 20 percent. The aim is to prevent this with the annulment procedure against the regulation at the European Court of Justice.

The complaint against Gewessler for abuse of office is also being prepared. The Climate Minister should have reached an agreement with Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig and ignored the decision of the Länder against the scheme.

The “Krone” also asked Green Justice Minister Alma Zadic about possible legal consequences for her colleague. Especially because Zadic defends himself offensively and carries out any (ÖVP) attacks against the WKStA and presents himself as the guardian of justice. But now she does not want to take a position on the domestic political issue.

Upon request, the Minister’s Office referred to the statements of Green Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler.

According to information from “Krone”, Gewessler obtained four statements in advance from supposedly external lawyers, on which she based her decision on how to proceed with the renaturation law. At least one of them, a professor at the University of Linz, is close to the Greens: he was a member of the Green negotiating team under Zadic in 2019. Experts consider it doubtful whether Gewessler can so easily dismiss the issue of ‘intentionality’ when it comes to allegations of abuse of office with these “expert reports”.

The Greens, in turn, recall that the ÖVP ministers in Brussels have often voted alone. Interior Minister Karner blocked Bulgaria and Romania from joining Schengen against the wishes of the Greens – and has done so to this day.

More than 50 joint proposals in parliament
Despite all this, the ÖVP emphasizes that it does not want to break up the coalition out of state responsibility and even wants to jointly decide on all projects that have already been negotiated in parliament. More than fifty proposals were submitted during the last plenary session and will be voted on in July and September.

Among them are important things:

• nursing reform,
• the municipal package with a financial injection of 1.3 billion euros for the municipalities,
• the animal protection law,
• the costs of the criminal lawyer,
• the digitization package for schools and mobile phone security reform.

Dozens of bills will no longer be introduced
All this has yet to be decided, but nothing more will happen. Things are looking bad, especially when it comes to things from Gewessler’s department, like…

• Electricity Sector Act,
• the Act on Accelerating the Expansion of Renewable Energy
• and the Climate Protection Act.
• A faster ban on fully slatted floors in pig farming will probably not be a major concern for the ÖVP in the coming weeks.
• However, the abolition of capital gains tax on securities with a concurrent holding period is not a priority for the Greens.
• It has long been clear, at least unofficially, that reform at the top of the judiciary has failed. This applies to the Epidemic Act, the amendment of which was still taken for granted during the Corona peak phase. Also open is the educational leave reform, pushed by the Ministry of Labour, which could fail because of the Greens, as well as the automatic pension split. A new ORF law is not exactly high on the ÖVP’s agenda.

Opposition shocked by government
The opposition is shocked by the dispute in the government. The rejection of the Council of Ministers is “a self-denial and an absolute declaration of bankruptcy for a coalition,” says SPÖ club chairman Philip Kucher. “If everyone in Austria behaved like Chancellor Nehammer and his government team, there would be no trains running in Austria, no operations taking place and within a few days the electricity would go out across the country.”

The NEOS also recognize the refusal to work. “This is an undignified spectacle for the republic and Austria’s reputation has also been damaged internationally,” Secretary General Douglas Hoyos said on krone.tv (see video above). Austria cannot afford months of standstill until a new government is formed.

There was also a report from the head of state at the request of the “Krone”: “The federal president is following the discussion closely and maintains good communication with the federal government. The goal now should be to calm things down on both sides.”

However, Alexander Van der Bellen also said that he would not confirm appointments to top positions in ministries from July 9. At least for the time being, haggling over the job is over.