U-Committee: FPÖ Has Completed Request
The common theme is to serve the "intimidation" of government critics. With this, the Freedom Party wants to address both the investigations into the death of the former head of the Justice Department, Christian Pilnacek, and the COVID measures. The investigation committee is to be requested on Wednesday in a special session of the National Council.
The subject of the investigation is, as already known, "the suspicion of improper or purely party-politically motivated influence" by ÖVP representatives or persons close to the party in the Ministry of the Interior and Justice as well as in the Federal Chancellery, as stated in the FPÖ's request available to the APA. The investigation period spans from January 7, 2020 (the day the turquoise-green federal government was sworn in) to May 20 of this year. The Freedom Party can request the investigation committee on their own.
One of the evidence topics in the investigation committee will be the investigations by the Krems Public Prosecutor's Office and the Lower Austria State Criminal Police Office into the cause of Pilnacek's death, as well as related proceedings by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA). The FPÖ suspects abuse of office, suggesting that evidence may have been removed and investigation results falsified on orders, as stated in the draft request.
Investigation Committee: COVID Measures Also in Focus
The two other evidence topics revolve around the COVID measures, with which the FPÖ also wants to fulfill the election promise of an originally separate COVID committee. It is suspected, on the one hand, of the "use of direct command and coercive power to influence the execution of assembly laws in connection with assemblies that opposed the restrictions due to COVID-19 measures," as stated in the request.
The FPÖ also wants to investigate the "influence on the execution of the security police in connection with government and measure-critical citizens" during the pandemic. It is suggested that authorities "exerted improper or party-politically motivated influence on surveillance, observation, and control measures." The FPÖ also identifies the persecution of journalists in all cases.
FPÖ Sees Conditions Met
The constitutional conditions must be presented by the minority requesting the committee to the Rules of Procedure Committee. This committee is tasked with examining the matter and declaring the request admissible. Once this hurdle is cleared, the investigative committee is considered established. The FPÖ sees in the request both the necessary execution of the federal government and the definiteness and conclusiveness of the process, as well as the direct connection in their request.
Leading for his party is FPÖ General Secretary Christian Hafenecker, who already has experience in several investigative committees. As chairman, National Council President Walter Rosenkranz, also a member of the Freedom Party, is likely to act. The Freedom Party intends to invite as first informants, for example, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) and the former ÖVP General Secretary and now Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker.
Urgent Inquiry to Stocker
An urgent inquiry to Stocker will also be part of the special session requested by the FPÖ. Title: "ÖVP Abuse of Power: State or Party, What Comes First for You, Mr. Federal Chancellor?" However, it will not be the Chancellor himself, but ÖVP State Secretary Alexander Pröll who will answer this, a spokesperson announced on Tuesday. The Chancellor cites a long-planned absence; all parties represented in Parliament had agreed to a corresponding presidential circulation. It was also emphasized: "The urgent inquiry by the FPÖ refers to a period in which the current Federal Chancellor had no governmental responsibility."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.