A multi-year clash over a controversial posting between Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner and President Alexander Van der Bellen has reared its head as Lower Austria’s election is barely more than a week away.
On 29 January, Lower Austrians are heading to the polls. The largest Austrian state is the conservative’s heartland, and Tanner is one of many leading politicians to hail from there.
In 2020, the helm of a troop exercise area in Lower Austria, located in Allentsteig, was sitting empty. After surveying a field of candidates, Tanner selected Herbert Gaugusch for the job despite the fact he was missing several key qualifications such as experience abroad.
Gaugusch, who has dedicated himself to the local chapter of the conservative ÖVP, was deemed more qualified than his rival, who lived with a social democrat SPÖ politician. Der Standard reported that the president’s office, who is the ultimate commander in chief of the army, blocked Gaugusch’s appointment upon hearing of such allegations.
This left the appointment in limbo, with Tanner appointing her favoured candidate unofficially. Doing so left the exercise area, an important local economic factor, in Gaugusch’s hands. Within the military, discontent began to rise.
This left Tanner attempting to fix the situation in November, Standard reported. This was rebuffed by the vice chancellor’s office, which is in charge of public officials. A subsequent attempt in December was rejected too. Accordingly, another appeal to the Vice Chancellor’s office is pending since early January.
Opposition politicians have seized on the ongoing affair. He was dismayed “that Tanner is still letting the Allentsteig military training area be run by a candidate who is not the best fit, just because he is from the ÖVP,” explained SPÖ defence policy spokesman Robert Laimer on Tuesday.
“The big picture: Tanner plays defence mainly for the ÖVP, less for the Republic,” he stressed.
(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
