Resignation & comeback

Squabbling in the shadow of the Perchtoldsdorf defense tower

Mayor Andrea Kö and Finance Officer Wolfgang Hussian - will there be a happy ending after the rift?

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Reinhard Judt, VP Perchtoldsdorf)

The losses in the municipal council elections have led to internal battles within the ÖVP in Perchtoldsdorf. At the weekend, there was much need for discussion within the party - a resignation was finally followed by the resignation of the resignation.

The People's Party not only lost almost 12 percent of the votes in the noble wine tavern town in the district of Mödling, but also four seats and one seat on the municipal council. There is a tough fight for the latter. "Each association should only have one representative on the municipal council," was the original motto of Mayor Andrea Kö. This particularly affected the Wirtschaftsbund, which previously had two executive municipal councillors. The result: Wolfgang Hussian, the municipality's previous finance officer, stepped down for the time being - and also resigned his seat.

Loyalty to the chairman
The way he was approached about his resignation was "not charming", the lawyer recalled in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. Kö had informed him by telephone that the Wirtschaftsbund could only put forward one candidate for the municipal council: "It was clear to me then that I, not the chairman of our association, had to go. It's a question of loyalty," says Hussian. In any case, he is "very sad" about this turn in his political career: "I was on the municipal council for 15 years, five of them as finance officer. I really enjoyed it."

Hectic weekend
That was the situation until Saturday. But then events apparently came thick and fast. Originally, observers had assumed that culture officer Johanna Mayerhofer would lose her seat on the municipal council. Until the weekend, however, this was not an option for Kö. The fact that Mayerhofer is her stepmother was irrelevant, said Kö - and emphasized: "A seat on the board is a question of commitment, not kinship." And yet hectic discussions within the ÖVP in Perchtoldsdorf followed at the weekend.

All commands returned
Everything changed on Sunday. Andrea Kö thanked Johanna Mayerhofer, who "has been a very important pillar of our team over the past 23 years" and who has now made her place on the municipal council available "in the interests of the party as a whole". Kö did not say to what extent unfriendly, anonymous phone calls that her stepmother had received after the quarrels became known had influenced the decision. In any case, Wolfgang Hussian will remain a member of the municipal council - at the request of all the alliance leaders as well as the Neos as future coalition partners. Today, Monday, the ÖVP party executive is to make the final decision.