At the end of a special meeting of the National Council requested by the SPÖ and FPÖ, not only the ÖVP but also the coalition partners remained loyal to him. Another motion to renew the U-Committee by three months did not find a majority. The coalition voted unanimously against the opposition’s request.
In the meeting, the red parliamentary group leader in the U-Committee Kai Jan Krainer once again denounced the hesitant or incomplete delivery of files to the body. Blümel reacted stressedly relaxed and again rejected all allegations.
Tax gifts for the richest of the rich?
“How should Parliament trust you”, asked Krainer when giving reasons for the “Urgent Question” to Blümel in the plenary chamber. It is unique that a finance minister was only forced to deliver the required material to parliament after an execution by the Federal President: “Those who are controlled must also cooperate.”
The reasons put forward by the finance minister, such as the protection of the department’s employees, are not taken from Krainer: “You did not deliver the files to protect the turquoise family.” The red parliamentary group leader believes that negotiations on preferential treatment for private foundations should have been kept secret. Because ten billion in tax gifts “for the richest of the rich” were planned.
Video: Jan Krainer’s speech
Blümel praised officials
Blümel did not go into that, he also answered most of the 12-question catalog very quickly. The key message of the finance minister was that his department had fully supported the U-Committee. Four reports had confirmed his approach to delivering the files. As an employer, he is not allowed to look into the mailboxes of employees.
The finance minister would much rather praise his officials, who, despite the corona-related burdens, would have spent a lot of time working for the U-Committee. He also paid tribute to the MPs for the additional activities in the body. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen thanked Blümel for his careful approach in connection with the execution.
Video: This is how Blümel defended himself
No green support
At the beginning of his brief, ten-minute speech, the finance minister immediately paid tribute to the emergency services during the flood and promised quick federal aid. A corresponding motion for a resolution was adopted against the votes of the FPÖ. The Freedom Party had brought in their own initiative.
Blümel had to get along at the meeting without the support of Green representatives on the government bench. The ÖVP sent State Secretary Magnus Brunner as escort. Of course, the seats for the MPs weren’t exactly filled to the brim. No less than 30 mandataries were apologized for the special meeting that had ruptured during the summer holidays, including the club chairmen Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS).
Employees as “living protective shields”
The SPÖ MP Christoph Matznetter accused Blümel of using the employees of the finance ministry as “living shields”. Blümel had once again tried to suggest that someone was accusing the staff of withholding the documents requested from parliament. “It was not the civil servants and contract employees, but you, your cabinet and the leadership who did it,” said Matznetter to Blümel, who he recommended “to be ashamed of and not to blame”.
“Cat and Mouse Game with Parliament”
The finance minister disregarded the laws, said FPÖ parliamentary group leader Christian Hafenecker. “We played cat and mouse with Parliament.” Blümel only protected himself and no one else. The blue mandate even suspects that the minister deliberately supplied files with health data in order to be able to argue with the protection of privacy. Blümel was about cover-up and concealment and it was hiding behind the “poor employees”.
“Broken in the way”
At the speech of the green group leader, Nina Tomaselli, I couldn’t hear that the ÖVP and the Greens are in a coalition. She shot them just as sharply at the ÖVP as the opposition parties. The Turquoise would do well to grapple with the committee’s revelations. They reject the turquoise politics of intransparency and secrecy. The ÖVP could have decided to work on the investigation, but instead it had “put chunks in the way” of the committee, which the opposition had to clear away together with the Federal President and the courts. “It could have been a lot easier, no one is above the law and you can feel that now,” said Tomaselli in the direction of Blümel. She once again expressed the hope that the opposition will set up the committee again in the autumn. “I would be happy if there was a new one.”
Neos are calling for changes in the law
Nikolaus Scherak von the Neos again demanded changes to the law, because everything that had been discussed in the U-Committee “would not be possible if the appropriate laws had finally been made”, but the Greens are making the ÖVP the wall in delaying and preventing. Neos faction leader Stephanie Krisper once again accused the minister of “mocking parliament” and “bringing a new style into politics that no one has been waiting for”.
“No idea about real life”
The turquoise parliamentary group leader, Andreas HangerFor his part, accused Krainer and Matznetter of “having no idea about real life” because they never mentioned the flood disaster to him in their speeches. It once put forward the argument that the delays in the delivery of files from the Treasury to the U-Committee were due to the personal rights of the employees. The opposition was not prepared to compromise, it was just scandalized, said Hanger and explicitly expressed confidence in Blümel. The reason for this he cited was the handling of the corona aid, which went “excellently”.
