MFG national manager and country manager Pöttler leaves
The letter said he would be retiring with immediate effect. The reason for the step may have been internal differences about the course of the vaccination-critical party: “I have come to the assumption that the people involved with us are no longer putting into practice what we have promised our supporters. I can’t and don’t want to take part anymore,” writes Pöttler. From his point of view, currying favor with the existing system has already happened at MFG.
Coaching invoices as an occasion
Specifically, the man from Salzburg cited a bill for coaching training for the three MFG members of the Upper Austrian state parliament in the amount of 28,800 euros for a total of 30 units. This is regulated and approved by law in the Party Financing Act. Morally, for him, in an MFG that wants to be “different”, it is not justifiable to pay almost 1,000 euros gross tax money for one unit per person, while many people can no longer afford the basic needs of everyday life.
“For me, the MFG was a party of hope. However, the bill from Upper Austria shows – as just one of many examples – that the party is no different than other parties,” said Pöttler in an interview with the APA.
Exit is to start a “reflection process”.
In order to move away from a “one-topic party” (against the coronavirus measures) to new topics on which the party should position itself clearly, a critical examination of the values developed when it was founded is needed. “Perhaps my exit is the starting signal for MFG to start a reflection process.”
But he didn’t want to wash dirty laundry or attack anyone personally, said Pöttler and thanked his comrades-in-arms. The missed entry into the Tyrolean state parliament at the weekend was not a reason for the resignation. He ruled out a return to politics almost two years after the founding of the Salzburg state organization. Pöttler used to be the economics director of the Salzburg state clinics, after which he became a freelance health economist.
Brunner: Pöttler’s differences with other functions
MFG federal party chairman and presidential candidate Michael Brunner told the newspaper “Österreich” on Friday that there had been major differences between Pöttler and state and local spokesmen, also because of his extremely unfriendly manner and that he can fully concentrate on the election campaign in Salzburg. Then suddenly there was this reaction.” Pöttler replied in an e-mail to the APA that it had always been clear that he would have been the federal manager at the end of 2022 in order to concentrate on the Salzburg state elections.
Brunner described “Austria” that Pöttler shouted at people and did not treat them with respect: “There were many complaints. We no longer need a federal manager, we are expanding the federal board and will soon discuss who will follow in Salzburg,” explained Brunner. According to Pöttler, there was a problem in the team in Salzburg at the end of last year, “it was solved”.
Departure as Salzburg head of state “completely unexpected”
Brunner was surprised by the departure of the head of the Salzburg regional group. On Monday, Pöttler assured him that he would concentrate fully on the election campaign in Salzburg, Brunner said. “The e-mail was completely unexpected. We’re going to continue as discussed, only without Dr. Pöttler. We certainly overburdened him recently, it was too much work.” When the objection that the whole thing before the Hofburg election was uncomfortable, Brunner said: “I don’t see a crisis, but the whole thing is completely relaxed.”
When asked what the training bills were about, the MFG federal party leader said: “The bill that he presented was agreed, it was intended as a training course for the entire period. They passed on the knowledge from the training to the local groups and all functions. That was a training course for all of Upper Austria. He also had private training there and paid for it privately.”
View of state elections: MFG Salzburg advises
Pöttler’s departure means a severe blow for MFG in Salzburg six months before the state elections on April 23, 2023. As the deputy Salzburg MFG state spokesman Engelbert Neubauer said to the APA on Friday, the team of the state group will meet in the evening and discuss the next steps. Neubauer admitted that the party was faced with a completely new situation relatively shortly before the election: “Gerhard Pöttler was one of the driving forces behind the movement. It’s a shame he’s going. But what should you do when people no longer fit together.” According to Neubauer, he himself is definitely willing to continue.
In a press conference in mid-August, Pöttler emphasized that eleven percent of those questioned would choose MFG, according to a poll they conducted themselves. In the election on Sunday in Tyrol, however, the party only got 2.8 percent.