Many hope for a referendum against corruption
politics
At the beginning of May, the nationwide anti-corruption referendum started. After the recent affairs from Ibiza to ÖBAG, the initiators are calling for “more decency in politics” and the strengthening of the rule of law. A number of prominent ex-politicians and lawyers support. Two were guests at a discussion in Salzburg.
For almost three years now, the republic has been regularly shaken by scandals and political revelations. A complete federal government has failed – as well as the two-time short-term Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP). The density of affairs is reminiscent of the 1980s. At that time, Lucona, Club 45, the AKH scandal and the WEB scandal in Salzburg created major turmoil and political turbulence and dominated the headlines for a long time.
Heide Schmidt and Walter Geyer as guests
Today it’s about Ibiza, appointments, party accounting, ÖBAG, casinos and mobile phone chats: the corruption prosecutor’s office is piling up mountains of files. The initiators of the upcoming referendum that wants to put an end to all this have now appeared in Salzburg: Heide Schmidt, ex-FPÖ politician and founder of the Liberal Forum, was a guest at the Bildungshaus St. Virgil – together with Walter Geyer, green ex-politician and formerly Head of the Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
He admits that in international comparison Austria is one of the least corrupt countries in the world: “But the reason for the referendum is also how big the difference between the public presentation of things is in Austria – and the factual events. Through the chats, for the first time we now have black and white on how posts are awarded.”
No more money envelopes, but other “gifts”
The quality of the scandals have also changed, says Heide Schmidt. It used to be much more clumsy – for example when placing orders: “It was a matter of course back then that you put an envelope along with it. That was part of it. Luckily we don’t have that anymore. Today, however, it comes in the form of other favors. Questioning this and making it transparent is the only way to protect a country from corruption.”
As a consequence, Geyer and Schmidt call for more transparency in politics and administration as well as a strengthening of the independence of the judiciary. The registration period for the anti-corruption referendum begins on May 2nd.