Brucknerhaus affair

SPÖ-Lindner says: Luger should remain mayor

Michael Lindner (SPÖ) backs Klaus Luger.

(Bild: Alexander Schwarzl)

The request by federal party leader Andreas Babler to resign as Linz city party leader has "accelerated matters", says regional party leader Michael Lindner: Linz mayor Klaus Luger will resign from all party functions as a consequence of the Brucknerhaus affair.

"It was important and right that Klaus Luger apologized clearly and unambiguously and made the decision to suspend the LIVA supervisory board in order to clear up the matter completely," says SP provincial party leader Michael Lindner in response to the affair surrounding the Linz mayor in the Brucknerhaus case.

Hearing questions sent in advance
As reported, Luger had admitted to having sent the hearing questions to the now dismissed LIVA boss and Brucknerhaus director Dietmar Kerschbaum before his appointment.

Lindner understands calls for his resignation
Lindner says he understands from a party-political point of view that there are calls for his resignation. "Nevertheless, I think it is right for Klaus Luger to accompany this matter as mayor and contribute to the clarification", the regional party leader now backs Luger.

However, Luger's time as SPÖ city party leader is over: he will "retire from all party functions", says Lindner in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. This had already been agreed this morning. "Further steps by the SPÖ Linz will be necessary in the coming weeks and months in order to clarify the situation for the future," said Lindner in a press release. The SPÖ Linz will work on a "future-oriented solution". The aim is to further clarify the situation at LIVA and win back the trust of the citizens.

Shadow on election campaign tour
The affair is also casting a shadow over Lindner's election campaign tour, which he has just launched together with Eva-Maria Holzleitner, the leading candidate of the Upper Austrian Social Democratic Party for the national elections. The disappointment among citizens and functionaries is great, reports Lindner - but he would like to shift the focus of the election campaign elsewhere: "Let's now concentrate on our social issues again in our discussions with the population, which are important for a better Austria."