Dispute escalates

Motion of no confidence against Kirchdorf’s mayor

The Mayor of Kirchdorf, Vera Pramberger (SP), has been in office since May 2020.

(Bild: Jack Haijes)

The ongoing dispute between the SP and the alliance consisting of VP, FP and the Greens has reached a temporary climax in Kirchdorf. A motion of no confidence has been tabled against the red mayor Vera Pramberger. Now the municipal council and subsequently the people will decide on her future. 

Since taking office four years ago, Kirchdorf's SP mayor Vera Pramberger has been facing an icy wind from the opposition. Now she is confronted with a motion of no confidence signed by all of the ÖVP, FPÖ and Green municipal councillors. "We have therefore achieved the necessary two-thirds majority. Now the municipal council has to vote on the motion, if there is again a two-thirds majority, a referendum will decide on the mayor's dismissal," explains Green Party Chairman Valentin Walch.

Walch cites the mayor's lack of sense of responsibility as the main reason for the motion of no confidence. "Unfortunately, she has repeatedly shifted her tasks onto others and then does not take responsibility for them. She does not learn from her mistakes and does not participate in joint meetings in terms of content. So we had to pull the emergency brake for the good of Kirchdorf."

Ultimately, she put the interests of herself and her party above those of the people of Kirchdorf and played politics with uncertainty and fear-mongering

Christoph Colak, FP-Stadtrat

"We didn't make this decision lightly," explains FP councillor Christoph Colak. "After almost four years in office, the mayor has repeatedly proven that she can neither carry out her duties properly, nor does she show any insight or learn. Most recently, following the rejection of the budget by the municipal council, she has failed to carry out her statutory task of ensuring the orderly continuation of municipal operations. Instead, she declared a standstill and unsettled the people of Kirchdorf, ultimately putting the interests of herself and her party above those of the people of Kirchdorf and playing politics with uncertainty and fear-mongering."

Budget as a sticking point
ÖVP parliamentary group leader Wolfgang Dilly is also not sparing with his criticism: "Through her own negligence, she repeatedly provokes mistakes and stands in the way of proactive further development, but then always blames others. Now that her draft budget has recently been rejected by a majority in the municipal council, she has abused her power and used blockade tactics to exert pressure to release funds in place of her responsibility, which she is authorized to do according to the municipal code."

Mayor is shocked
Pramberger spoke out in a written statement: "I am disappointed and shocked by the means used by the ÖVP, the FPÖ and the Greens to try and force me out of office as a directly elected mayor. But the political game is transparent. Since the beginning of this 2021 legislative period, the ÖVP parliamentary group leader in particular, accompanied by the second deputy mayor Alexander Hauser, has been making a long-planned effort to find the appropriate majorities for a motion of no confidence against me and thus to settle party-political differences on the backs of the people of Kirchdorf."

The fact that the motion is being deliberately launched right now, at a very challenging time for the municipality, underpins the long-standing efforts for a motion of no confidence."

Vera Pramberger, SPÖ-Bürgermeisterin

Pramberger wants to continue to reach out to all parties represented in the municipal council. "Difficult times in particular require cohesion, be it in the family, at work and above all in the town hall. I would ask all elected representatives to take this into consideration in the decisions that need to be made in the near future."