Crown amendment continues to cause turmoil – Coronavirus Vienna

The government-planned amendments to the Corona law, which are also intended to create the legal basis for the Corona stoplight, continue to cause turmoil among parliamentary groups. Much criticized in the evaluation, the revised draft should be available on Monday. The ÖVP and the Greens point to the decision of September 23, but the opposition, especially the FPÖ, is slowing down.

If it goes according to the plans of the government’s parliamentary groups, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) will meet with the parliamentary groups for a discussion on Monday at 10.30am after the extraordinary session of the National Council, which begins at 12 noon and in which the law will be returned, the health committee will meet. There they want to decide on a four-day committee review. A second health committee must approve the amendment on September 21, and the decision must be made two days later in the first ordinary plenary session after the summer.

The catch: This parliamentary procedure is usually decided by consensus, and the FPÖ again demonstrated resistance on Thursday. “We clearly demand an adequate review period, of at least 3 weeks, for such serious laws that affect the fundamental rights and freedoms of our citizens, as well as a subsequent expert hearing,” said the FPÖ health spokesperson and president of the health committee, Gerhard Kaniak, in a broadcast.

“Austria can also be governed without these amendments to the law and without the crown traffic light, so there must at least be time for a proper evaluation,” said Kaniak, who named the next plenary session on October 13 as the scheduled date. . Health Minister Anschober would do well to take the criticism repeatedly leveled at him seriously and never see Parliament again as a puppet of the black-green government. Instead of informal rounds of conversations, clear and transparent information and discussions are required in the responsible committee. I am very hopeful that he will take the time to do so ”, emphasized the FPÖ health spokesperson.

On the part of the SPÖ, health spokesman Philip Kucher emphasized that the responsibility for the pressure of deadlines rests solely with the government itself. “The ÖVP and the Greens would have had two months to regulate traffic lights and the provisions of the Covid Measures Act and the Epidemic Act in a legally clean manner. They just didn’t put it together. Instead, they wasted time with countless press conferences. and speeches, “he said in a statement. to the APA. It is up to the government to finally present a legally defensible legislative proposal: “Then we will see how to organize a proper review process so that the experts and the opposition are heard.”

NEOS’s Gerald Loacker emphasized that Parliament was ready to act. However, they have been waiting for the revised draft since the first discussion with the Minister of Health on August 31. Loacker warned that “people will now drive quickly and quickly through Parliament just because the government slept through the summer.”

Despite criticism from the opposition, the ÖVP and Greens government factions are doing their best to bring forthcoming amendments to the crown law through the National Council starting in September. One hopes to win the FPÖ for him too, he said at the request of the APA in the parliamentary club ÖVP. The head of the green club, Sigrid Maurer, is also confident of more talks, the deadline is September 23.

If it turns turquoise green, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) should present his revised draft on Monday, after a very critical evaluation. Then a review committee should be decided, for which the health committee of the National Council would have to meet twice, on September 14 and 21. This would pave the way for a September resolution.

Until now, the FPÖ has refused to do this because it wants another three-week evaluation and, in general, it is customary for such a parliamentary procedure to be considered only by mutual agreement. However, it is not required by law, and there have been cases in the past where committees were convened without everyone’s consent, it was heard in parliament.

However, a second variant is more likely: If there is no agreement on the committee’s brief review, the coalition will present the bill at the special session of the National Council on Monday as a proposed initiative and set a deadline. Then it would have to be discussed in the plenary session of the National Council on September 23, whether the committee is in session or not. The revised bill will not be reviewed at all.

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