“I don’t quite understand why I was forced to carry out an execution via the detour of the Constitutional Court (VfGH),” said the head of state in an interview with the “Vorarlberger Nachrichten” (Wednesday edition).
That could have been done with less attention and with the same result, says Van der Bellen. At the same time, the Federal President again urged respect for the judiciary in the UN interview. “She must be able to work unhindered.” On the other hand, there was praise for Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) for the separation of the criminal law and legal sections, which had brought her “considerable resistance within the coalition”.
Praise for the criminal district court
The fact that the files that were last delivered by the criminal regional court are apparently not exactly identical to what Blümel had previously delivered to the U-Committee does not cause Van der Bellen to worry about the “Salzburger Nachrichten” (Wednesday edition): “Under Lawyers often diverge in terms of what is right and what is not. ” In any case, the Vienna Criminal Court commissioned by him had done an “excellent job”.
Whether the rules of procedure of U committees should be changed is a matter for Parliament. However, Van der Bellen is uncomfortable that the Constitutional Court is being called on to arbitrate on political issues. When asked whether a judge should lead U committees in the future, Van der Bellen pointed out that these were not courts, but parliamentary, i.e. political bodies.
Don’t speculate
The fact that parties are increasingly taking action against each other with lawsuits and notifications is “not a good development”. When asked whether Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) had to resign if he was charged with false testimony in the Ibiza-U Committee, Van der Bellen did not answer: “I have made it a rule not to publicly speculate on hypothetical questions.”
Nor did he initially want to answer the question about his candidacy for a second term. A lot of time will pass before the election in October 2022. “Of course I am happy about every positive survey about my position in office. But I see no need to think about autumn 2022”, said Van der Bellen about the SN.
He came into office as an outsider and saw “so many and in some cases even cumulative crises” looming as hardly anyone before. “But all in all, we all managed it together quite well. And the discussion ‘Do we even need a Federal President?’ is done. In some situations it actually needs him. “
