FPÖ demands U-Committee: Constitutional conformity under attack!

FPÖ demands U-Committee: Constitutional conformity under attack!

The FPÖ is planning to go to the Constitutional Court (VfGH) after its application for a committee of inquiry into the Corona measures and the death of Christian Pilnacek was rejected by the government. As the Small newspaper reported, the coalition factions argue that the subject of the investigation has neither been determined nor completed. Two reports doubt the legality of the application and show that the investigation is not constitutional, so Wöginger from the ÖVP remains skeptical about the intimidation of critics by the Interior Ministry.

The decision is notable because the FPÖ's application was met with a lot of resistance and both the SPÖ and NEOS support the rejection. NEOS MP Nikolaus Scherak describes the clarification by the Constitutional Court as sensible. The Greens also criticize formal errors in the FPÖ's application, but support the right to control possible errors by the government.

Political tensions and power games

The rejection of the application is part of a larger political game. The U-Committee could be chaired by National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ). Wöginger is calm about the possibility of the FPÖ setting up two separate U-committees, describing previous committees as “root and beet committees”.

The coalition parties argue that the demands made by the FPÖ, which focus on various processes, cannot be dealt with in a committee of inquiry. Andreas Hanger (ÖVP) in particular emphasizes that this does not correspond to the constitutional requirements, while Kai Jan Krainer (SPÖ) criticizes the mixing of different topics and points out the lack of substantiated justification for the connection between the Corona measures and the Pilnacek case.

The role of the investigative committees

According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, committees of inquiry are an important instrument of parliament to control the government and are mainly used by the opposition. Their main task is to investigate previously closed, presumably problematic issues. Collecting evidence, questioning witnesses and requesting documents are central aspects of their work. Unlike study commissions, which serve to obtain information, investigative committees focus on pending legal and political issues.

The proceedings are often politically charged, and the committee's success depends heavily on public attention and media coverage. The final report, which is presented at the end of the work, represents the central overview of the results and is associated with a vote.

Wöginger emphasized that the ÖVP wants to participate constructively and sees no cracks in the three-party coalition. Cooperation at club level seems to be working well, which could be important for the upcoming political debates. Future surveys suggest that the ÖVP's poll numbers could increase again, while the FPÖ's own polls are around ten percentage points higher than the ÖVP's.

The government also plans to work on new social assistance from autumn onwards, which will be more uniform and include waiting periods during an integration phase. Child rates should also be integrated, which decrease as the number of children increases, analogous to models in Upper Austria and Lower Austria.