In the LIVA

Ex-university rector takes over mandate from ex-mayor

Former university rector Meinhard Lukas takes over supervisory board mandate from Klaus Luger at LIVA

(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2023)

With the departure of Linz Mayor Klaus Luger, the SPÖ had a vacancy in the Linz event company LIVA - and this is now being filled by former university rector Meinhard Lukas. He could also become the new head of the supervisory board.

"I assume that Dr. Lukas will subsequently be elected to the vacant chairmanship by the Supervisory Board so that he can drive forward the decisive steps towards a complete objective clarification of the LIVA affair," says Dietmar Prammer, the SPÖ's leading candidate for the mayoral election in Linz. 

"The right man to clear up the case"
The LIVA affair has been preoccupying politicians and the media for weeks. It all began with an inspection report on the Brucknerhaus, in which the actions of the former director of this cultural institution were severely questioned. In the course of the audit, it emerged that Dietmar Kerschbaum's appointment had to be questioned, as he had been provided with the hearing procedure in advance during the application process. As was recently made public, the person behind this procedure was the Mayor of Linz and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Klaus Luger, who had not initially acknowledged this. "With Klaus Luger's resignation, the first and probably most important consequence has now been drawn. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered and I am just as concerned that they are answered in full as that we learn the right lessons for the future from this clarification of the past," explains city councillor and mayoral candidate Dietmar Prammer. He continues: "I am delighted that Dr. Lukas has agreed to take on this mandate as a non-party expert at my request. He will ensure that the case can be clarified and dealt with sustainably in the best interests of the City of Linz and LIVA."

Rare cross-party unity
There is also no criticism of the replacement from the city's ÖVP party, on the contrary: 

"The nomination of former JKU Rector Meinhard Lukas as the new LIVA Supervisory Board Chairman is to be welcomed. I have always spoken out in favor of filling the vacant position externally. In Meinhard Lukas, we have been able to recruit a non-partisan expert who, on the one hand, stands for a genuine new beginning and, on the other, is also a guarantee that the Brucknerhaus scandal will finally be fully clarified and the many unanswered questions in the case answered," says VP Deputy Mayor Martin Hajart.

Facts about Meinhard Lukas
Meinhard Lukas (54) is a university professor of private law at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. He heads the Department of Basic Research and the Metaverse Lab. He was Rector from 2015-2023, before that Dean for four years and Chairman of the Senate for two years. As a legal expert, he advised the City of Linz for years in the swap legal dispute with BAWAG. On behalf of the Salzburg state government, he played a key role in clearing up the Salzburg financial scandal. Lukas chaired two supervisory boards for many years. He was a member of the University Council of the University of Art for the City of Linz.