Dispute with mother party

Hörl, Schöpf, Anzengruber: Original ÖVPers on the wrong track

The three original ÖVPers on the wrong track: Anzengruber, Schöpf, Hörl (from left).

(Bild: Krone Kreativ)

The current state of the Tyrolean People's Party in terms of personnel policy is anything but pleasing. Especially for LH Anton Mattle. The "Luger" case in Linz is little consolation.

What do Franz Hörl, Ernst Schöpf and Johannes Anzengruber have in common? They are right. At first glance, nothing at all. The trio couldn't be more different. The Zillertal native Hörl, the long-term mayor of Sölden Schöpf and Innsbruck's surprise city leader Anzengruber are completely different characters. From quick-tempered to quiet to rather inconspicuous. At second glance, however, they have something in common: all three have a problem with their parent party, the People's Party, especially the Tyrolean and Innsbrucker. But they have solved it in completely different ways.

Johannes Anzengruber

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Rise to the head of the city
Case one: Johannes Anzengruber. Actually a rather inconspicuous politician in Innsbruck for many years, hardly noticed for his political deeds (more so by others), felt disadvantaged, entered the mayoral ring in the provincial capital as a "solo fighter" and defeated everyone. Including Georg Willi (Greens) and above all the united civic coalition to which he actually belongs. Anzengruber is now mayor, the People's Party in Innsbruck is leading a niche existence after its most bitter defeat in decades and people across the country still don't know how to deal with the fall, or rather rise, of Johannes Anzengruber.

Franz Hörl

(Bild: Johanna Birbaumer)

Hörl goes his own way
Case two: This has its roots in the Zillertal, but has nothing to do with the Piefke saga, even if some of Franz Hörl's statements would be ripe for the Piefke saga. Hörl, a vocal but controversial cable car operator and hotelier, still feels that his party has booted him out of the National Council elections. He was placed 21st on the list, which is tantamount to going "into the political desert". Although Hörl remains loyal to the ÖVP because he has no choice, he is going his own way as part of a preferential vote campaign and - rather unusually for a Zillertal man - is spending a lot of private money on it.

Ernst Schöpf

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Resigned after 38 years
Case three: the most recent, but probably the most spectacular. These days, the long-term mayor of Sölden and former municipal association president Ernst Schöpf announced that he was resigning his ÖVP party membership after 38 years because he "definitely no longer has any place in this message of values and convictions". The political campaign of destruction and character assassination - also supported by his "party friends" - in the wake of the GemNova bankruptcy was enough for him, as was the media "three-day threshing" by a major Tyrolean newspaper, as he put it in an interview with this very newspaper.

Three blatant cases, although very different, but in their entirety anything but glorious for the Tyrolean People's Party, rather a picture of poor leadership.

The only small consolation for the Black Party in Tyrol at the moment is that there are cases such as that of Linz Mayor Luger, who will soon resign, who is currently hard to beat in terms of backstabbing, deceitfulness and armchair mentality and overshadows other incidents.

However, Tyrol's governor and ÖVP leader Anton Mattle should not resign himself to this, as the rumblings in his party will continue ...