In the spring, the ÖVP of Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens) demanded that certain chats (including from SPÖ politicians) be transferred. After this did not happen, the People’s Party turned to the Constitutional Court (VfGH). He now took the floor, bringing bad news to the ÖVP: As “Krone” insiders reported, the Supreme Court rejected the U-commission’s request.
However, the ÖVP does not see itself as a loser. “Although the Constitutional Court has rejected our application, it states that Zadic is now immediately obliged to finally inform the committee in detail about the progress of the investigations and to substantiate a forecast of the time required in an understandable way,” emphasized ÖVP faction leader Andreas Hanger “Crown”.
ÖVP now wants to wait and see how Zadic reacts to the VfGH decision
The People’s Party now wants to wait and see if and how Zadic will comply with the order of the Constitutional Court. Hanger: “We will then discuss our next steps. But I am convinced that this knowledge is an essential step so that the Commission of Inquiry can finally clarify how far the SPÖ has worked with Thomas Schmid.”
Reason for the unrest between the coalition partners in this case: Minister of Justice Alma Zadić has not met a deadline set by the ÖVP to deliver certain chats to the current ÖVP inquiry committee. In concrete terms, this concerns correspondence between Thomas Schmid, once secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance, and various SPÖ politicians.
ÖVP drags coalition partners before Constitutional Court
“We requested the SPÖ chats because they are of particular interest to the U-committee,” said ÖVP faction leader Andreas Hanger in the “Krone” interview at the end of April. “We cannot accept the Justice Department’s justification for not delivering due to capacity issues.” Ultimately, all ministries should “provide the respective files on time and in the requested size”. Addendum: “We will therefore immediately contact the Constitutional Court regarding this matter,” Hanger told the Krone at the time.
At the time, the Justice Department said it could not be delivered because the ÖVP’s application was part of a consultation process. In this process, the parties have to figure out which chats to deliver and in what order. The Constitutional Court now agreed with the Justice Department and rejected Hanger’s request.
Source: Krone
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