Break Sealed: Tyrolean SPÖ Expels Dornauer from State Parliament Club

The rift between the Tyrolean SPÖ and their former chairman and deputy governor Georg Dornauer appears to be final: The SPÖ state parliament club will exclude the 42-year-old, who currently serves "only" as a simple state parliament member, as announced in a statement on Thursday. Dornauer expressed to the APA that he was "surprised by this reaction."

He honestly did not know "on what legal basis this consequence was now taken." He would not say more for the time being. He wanted to "organize and classify" this first. The meeting of the state parliament club, in which the political separation will also be formally completed, will take place in the late afternoon at the Landhaus. Following this, the red state party executive will meet at the headquarters on Salurner Street. According to APA information, Dornauer's exclusion from the party was also on the table.

Tyrolean SPÖ Excludes Dornauer from State Parliament Club

The conflict between Dornauer and the current SPÖ leadership had been simmering since his involuntary departure from the government and party leadership last November. Now it has reached a final escalation. The cause was an initiative by Dornauer to the APA in the summer. He advocated for the repayment of 280 million euros in "excess profits" by the state energy supplier Tiwag to the population for reasons of justice and social democratic values and wanted to submit a corresponding urgent motion at the state parliament session next week - against the position of the party leadership and the coalition partner ÖVP.

The SPÖ party and club leadership saw this as a "breach of coalition" or a breach of the coalition agreement, according to which the government parties would proceed together on motions and votes on opposition motions. "The SPÖ Tyrol state parliament club will exclude Georg Dornauer. We may regret such a development on a personal level, but it is inevitable to continue our joint work for Tyrol," explained club chairwoman Elisabeth Fleischanderl.

All members of the government parties must adhere to the corresponding rules for a trustworthy cooperation, said Fleischanderl. Deviating from this agreement with the ÖVP would endanger important projects of the government program. Those who leave this "constructive path of cooperation" can no longer be part of the SPÖ club. The club chairwoman also reminded that Dornauer had "personally negotiated and signed" these agreements during the coalition negotiations in 2022.

Recently, there had been talks and negotiations behind the scenes following Dornauer's Tiwag initiative. The SPÖ club continued to disagree with Dornauer's request, so the former state party leader wanted to submit the motion alone. According to "TT," it was about a return as a special dividend of 170 million euros to the population. The opposition parties FPÖ, Liste Fritz, and Greens, who also want to submit their own motions, signaled approval. Nevertheless, they would not have had a majority, including Dornauer.

Apparently Also Party Exclusion in Consideration

The coalition partner ÖVP wanted to merely "acknowledge" the exclusion of Dornauer, said club chairman Jakob Wolf to the APA. "This is the matter of the SPÖ state parliamentary club," he stated. The ÖVP continues to rely on a "trustful" cooperation in the coalition. Wolf wanted to first take a look at the recent application submitted by Dornauer to Tiwag. However, a separate application by the coalition is not planned, as Governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP) is working on ensuring that the Tiwag dividend should be higher this time.

For the FPÖ, the expulsion of Dornauer marked "chaos days amidst the crisis." State party chairman Markus Abwerzger expressed being "shocked" by the "political disaster" caused by Mattle and "his social democratic 'shrinking coalition partners'." "The people of Tyrol deserve stability and a turn for the better, instead of stagnation, conflict, and self-interest," he noted, referring to the "most extreme economic crisis in decades, an unimaginable hyperinflation," as well as a "dramatically rising record unemployment."

No Impact on Coalition Majority

The coalition majority will not be endangered in the future due to an imminent "wild" or independent deputy Dornauer. ÖVP and SPÖ currently hold 21 out of 36 seats in the state parliament, thus forming a clear majority. With one less deputy, this would only be slightly affected.

Ice Age Between "Party Friends"

The recent explosive event marked the endpoint of a long-standing estrangement. Dornauer and the party leadership had little to say to each other internally, effectively an ice age prevailed. The Sellrainer could never forgive Deputy Governor and State Party Leader Philip Wohlgemuth and his loyalists for his forced departure following a hunting trip, during which René Benko was also present. He felt betrayed and abandoned by his former confidants and increasingly opposed them. At the same time, he made it clear that he did not intend to completely withdraw from politics, much to the dismay of the party leaders. He was again missing significant engagement in club meetings, committees, and the state parliament plenary, as was speculated by the "other side."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.