Explosive demands

How SPÖ rebel Fußi wants to clean up Austria

Under the title "Party book economy adé! For an Austria free of corruption and free trade", SPÖ rebel Rudi Fußi is once again inviting people to a press conference on Wednesday.

(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

PR consultant Rudi Fußi dreams of a great career in domestic politics. As is well known, his first step is to replace Andreas Babler as SPÖ leader in a competitive vote. With a package of measures for a "corruption- and free-market-free Austria", he now wants to win over his comrades. krone.at has the first details from his list of demands, which also includes the ORF.

The list of demands (after all, there are 40 points) includes several topics, all of which Fußi wants to officially present on Wednesday morning under the title "Party book economy adé!". krone.at has a first excerpt in advance. 

• Fighting corruption as a national objective
  Creation of a Ministry for Combating Corruption with a State Secretary for Transparency and Freedom of Information.

• Free ORF from party control
  Abolition of the budget levy, budget financing with fixed valorization. Furthermore: Depoliticization of the ORF foundation board, foundation board members must face a public hearing in parliament, international experts on the foundation board (50 percent and 50 percent by lot).

• End the privileges enjoyed by politicians and political parties
  Abolition of continued salary payments for politicians. By way of explanation: Former ministers are currently entitled to six months' salary continuation. In addition, covert party funding should be included in the Criminal Code and the Court of Audit should be able to open accounts (of associations, front organizations, anywhere where tax money is involved). Explosive: If a party exceeds the upper limit for election campaign costs, Fußi advocates harsh prison sentences of at least ten years.
• An end to advertising corruption and new freedom for the media
  Fußi wants stricter control of public advertisements through fixed quotas. In future, the conditions for participation in media promotion are to be drawn up by a commission of experts. 
  

"We will eliminate the privileges of the political class as well as the unequal treatment in the judiciary or the post haggling in public administration and state-owned companies," emphasizes Fußi.

A separate Ministry for Combating Corruption, including a State Secretariat for Transparency and Freedom of Information, will put Austria at the forefront of Europe. Fußi: "The times of self-service at the taxpayer's expense will come to an end."

The times of self-service at the taxpayer's expense will come to an end."

SPÖ-Rebell Rudi Fußi

Fußi's coalition condition
He wants to fight corruption in the SPÖ and the Republic "regardless of losses" and therefore the "strictest anti-corruption law in Europe" is also a coalition condition if he wins the election for leader of the SPÖ, "which I have no doubt about".

Fußi needs 14,000 signatures
The fact that he wants to break the habit of corruption will "perhaps hurt" him when collecting signatures in his party for a contest vote. However, he is indifferent to this, as his priority is the people and not the individual party soldier. Fußi also urges all red sympathizers to join the SPÖ quickly "so that I can push through the path of renewal". Fußi is currently collecting declarations of support from SPÖ members. If he manages to collect 14,000, there will be a battle between him and Babler.

Rudi Fußi

(Bild: APA Pool/APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

Babler also involved in the hunting case?
Meanwhile, Fußi is launching new attacks against SPÖ party leader Andreas Babler. In the context of the spicy hunting trip of the Tyrolean SPÖ deputy governor Georg Dornauer with bankrupt René Benko, Fußi poses three questions to Babler on X. 

One of the questions was whether Babler himself had shot several large deer as a member of the water management association of the Triestingtal and Südbahn communities.