Banned Demonstrations: What the Viennese FPÖ Says

State party leader Dominik Nepp is annoyed that "precisely at a pro-FPÖ demonstration, suddenly the argument of economic efficiency and traffic flow" is brought into play. This was not the case with "climate stickers" and "deckchair demos" that had paralysed traffic.

FPÖ Sees "Double Standards"

"Nothing has been done for years and the authorities have shrugged off the paralysis of the inner-city area for demonstrations by a handful of left-wing radicals," criticised Nepp, who identified the application of "double standards" and a "frontal attack on democratic basic values". Criticism also came from FPÖ constitutional spokeswoman Susanne Fürst, who emphasised that the FPÖ had no connection to either of these two demonstrations. However, banning government-critical demonstrations is a procedure otherwise only known from authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, said Fürst.

ÖVP Defends Decision on Demos

Understanding for the decision came from the ÖVP. "In economically challenging times, many local businesses in Vienna are dependent on the Christmas business," argued state party chairman Karl Mahrer, who cannot understand the criticism of the FPÖ. After all, the Freedom Party has been demanding the protection of the local Viennese economy for years in numerous press releases.

Demos Not Permitted

The Vienna State Police Directorate (LPD) did not permit the events "Peace and Neutrality! Against the Candy Coalition!" and "Peace and Neutrality!". The reasons given were the "right to freedom of enterprise of the businesses in the Viennese shopping streets" and the "interest of the general public in unimpaired traffic flow". These would outweigh that of the assembly.

On Friday, the LPD Vienna stated that this was not a general ban on assembly, "but a single-case decision of the assembly authority due to the fact that the notifier of the assembly wanted to lead this as a major demonstration around the entire Ring on the afternoon of the first Christmas shopping Saturday against the direction of traffic". This would have led to a collapse of traffic in the inner-city area and partly in the surrounding districts.

"Spontaneous Demonstrations" in Vienna?

Other demonstrations pursuing the same objectives have been permitted, the police said. A stationary demonstration at Heldenplatz is now scheduled for 12 noon according to the website of the "Fair Thinking" initiative. The organisers also announced there that they wanted to take legal action against the decision to prohibit. Previously, people had been called upon to still travel to Vienna, "to go for a walk there and visit Christmas markets". The police therefore did not rule out "spontaneous demonstrations".

Originally, the "Fair Thinking" and "Human Family" initiatives had called for a demonstration on 9 November. However, there was massive protest against this, as this is the anniversary of the November pogroms of 1938, when synagogues were systematically set on fire, Jewish businesses were looted and Jews were mistreated throughout the "German Reich". The organisers then postponed the demo. They advertise with slogans like "for our Austria" and are against a government formation without the FPÖ.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.