Care scandal: Greens lose a central figure
As the 61-year-old said at a press conference in the early afternoon, he was taking the consequences of the abuses in a Senecura nursing home in the city of Salzburg that became known two weeks ago. The Greens will decide on his successor in the afternoon. The transfer of office is to take place on November 9th.
There have been rumors of Schellhorn being forced to withdraw ever since the public prosecutor’s report on the Senecura home was published. It not only criticized the serious lack of care – with old people who were unfed, neglected and sore to the bone – but also the home supervision of the state of Salzburg. According to the Ombudsman, This did not intervene, but left it at recommendations. And the supervision of the home is part of Schellhorn’s social department.
Therefore, there have long been isolated calls for Schellhorn to resign – for example from the Salzburg FPÖ. However, the social officer rejected this in a “Salzburg Today” interview on September 8th.
Berthold as successor?
Martina Berthold, the green city councilor from the state capital, is likely to follow Schellhorn in the state government. The date for the change – also not yet confirmed – was November 9th. Berthold already sat in the government for a legislative period from 2013 to 2018 as a state councilor before she switched to city politics.
SPÖ: “Resignation two weeks too late”
The Salzburg SPÖ reports that Schellhorn’s resignation was unavoidable, but does not undo the care scandal. State party leader David Egger sees the demand for the successor to the Green party leader to “immediately clear up the shards that have been left behind”.
Schellhorn’s departure comes two weeks too late and doesn’t really seem to have been voluntary: “At least he’s taking responsibility now, he deserves respect. However, swapping heads is not enough. After the state elections, better working conditions for nurses and more resources for home supervision are needed.”
Criticism of Berthold’s job change
The Salzburg Deputy Mayor Bernhard Auinger (also SPÖ) criticizes the foreseeable change of the green city councilor Martina Berthold in the state government – as the successor to Schellhorn: “You and I have to overcome many common challenges, especially in the field of education.” The red deputy mayor demands that there will be no delays in staffing with the Greens.
NEOS demand the resignation of SPÖ-Hagenauer
The SPÖ city councilor Anja Hagenauer, who is responsible for care and social affairs, also had to resign after this scandal – not only the Green Schellhorn. This is what NEOS mandatary Lukas Rößlhuber demands: “I respect Heinrich Schellhorn’s decision, but he stumbled over a red care scandal. Now it’s time for the red city councilor Hagenauer to take the consequences! You must resign.”
Green top candidate for the state election gone
The personnel shift poses major problems for the Greens in the run-up to the upcoming state elections on April 23, 2023. Schellhorn was only elected on July 2 at the state assembly with more than 91 percent of the votes as the top candidate for the state elections.
The politician had been a member of the Salzburg state government since June 2013 – and since then also for the responsible social department. He has been on the state party executive of the Salzburg Greens since 2005. Born in Zillertal, he started his political career in the municipality of Hallein (Tennengau). There he sat between 1994 and 2004 in the city government.