Klagenfurt affair

Rat, Destroyer & Co: Political peace after resignation?

The worm is in it...

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

It can happen that quickly: On Wednesday, Philipp Liesnig was still firmly in the red party saddle in his own opinion in the "Krone" interview - but on Friday he said goodbye to the people of Klagenfurt after all.

The Klagenfurt SP has not been at peace over the past few months - and Deputy Mayor Philipp Liesnig was always in the middle of insulting chats ("rat"), haggling and post haggling, attacked by his opponent as a "destroyer".

Philipp Liesnig takes his leave.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

"Resigning is not an issue for me," he declared two days ago in the "Krone" talk show. But his self-confident statements are said to have been the icing on the cake, so that Governor Peter Kaiser and city party leader Philip Kucher finally sought talks with Liesnig on Thursday.

Cooperation with the Liesnig-SP would no longer have been possible, now it is a matter of an objective discussion in the interests of the city.

Christian Scheider, Bürgermeister, Team Kärnten

Early on Friday morning, he announced his resignation in a letter to the "dear people of Klagenfurt": "A reasonable cooperation for the city no longer seems possible. Reading up on chat histories overshadows the real problems." He is therefore clearing the way.

For whom?
Kucher: "We will discuss this over the weekend, and a decision on successors and departments will be made on Monday evening." Councillor Franz Petritz could move up to the position of deputy; a considerable career leap after the historian was not even predicted to serve the entire term. And, as always, a number of names are being bandied about for the city council - from regional sports director Arno Arthofer to officials Max Rakuscha, Ines Domenig and Martin Lemmerhofer.

"Bad for the city, good for the party" comes from an SP chat in which Liesnig was present. Team Kärnten has made crisp posters out of it.

(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

The last few months have shown that the path of destruction cannot be a political goal. Everyone has to pull together.

Anderas Skorianz (FP) wurde von Liesnig als „Ratte“ beleidigt.

Whoever it becomes has enough to do. After all, the biggest construction sites in the state capital remain the non-existent indoor swimming pool and the congress center, which is also missing. The Hülgerthpark retirement home, desolate sports grounds and empty coffers are also a cause for concern. It remains to be seen whether the finance department will remain with the SP. "Let's see who should take over the function, then our project partnership in the city senate will decide," says Mayor Christian Scheider, who is delighted about a new political start, but is the only opponent to wish Liesnig all the best: "Politics is one thing, being human is another."

During Liesnig's era, one had the impression that politics was only seen as a game in which it was all about the party or jobs for friends.

Julian Geier (VP) begrüßt Konsequenzen aus der roten Chat-Affäre.

And where is the lawyer Liesnig, who sounds relieved in conversation, drawn to? Not to Kabeg, as rumored, but "to the private sector".