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With its plan to allow people to break free from the lockdown on January 18, the government fails due to resistance from all opposition parties. After the FPÖ, the SPÖ and Neos also decided on Sunday that they would block the corresponding amendments to the Epidemic Law and the Covid-19 Measures Law in the Federal Council.
The turquoise green coalition reportedly wanted to pass the changes to the law on Friday (January 8) in the National Council. They would have to come into force before January 18, but after SPÖ, FPÖ and Neos have voted no in the Federal Council, this will not be possible until then, even with the insistence of the government parties.
As a result, the lockdown probably won’t end for everyone until January 24, as in the current regulation. According to the government announcement, people who have been released from the test or who have recovered from the Covid 19 disease in the last three months would have received permission to go to restaurants, hotels and retail companies, as well as events as of January 18th. The draft leaves a lot of room for an ordinance of the Ministry of Health that regulates the details. The draft states, for example, that a regulation can now stipulate that the restrictions “do not apply to people with a low epidemiological risk of further spread (…) This creates the possibility in the first steps of flexibility, for example by presenting a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2, to create additional freedom. “
- Video: Andreas Mayer-Bohusch comments on governing by turquoise green government ordinances and the opposition announced blockade of the government’s free trial project in the Federal Council.
The deadline for comments on the draft, which was only sent for review on Thursday evening, December 31, 2020, ended on Sunday, January 3, 2020. But giving feedback was practically impossible. In the short term, the Parliament website crashed due to the high number of visits. The SPÖ, FPÖ and Neos, who highlighted that they did not comply with their statements, asked for an extension of the review period. As a “cheek and slap”, Neos health spokesman Gerald Loacker called the parliamentary group’s appointment for today with Health Minister Rudi Anschober (Greens).
SP president Pamela Rendi-Wagner and FP club deputy director Susanne Fürst also criticized the short deadline for comment, and the three opposition parties also have huge constitutional concerns. The government wants to issue a “legally questionable blank check,” Rendi-Wagner said. “If new infections are not stable below 1,000 by the end of next week, we don’t even need to discuss the reduction,” he said. For Fürst, the draft would violate several fundamental rights, such as freedom of movement and the right to privacy. The city of Vienna issued an armed statement, pointing out the contradiction in terms of data protection in the test controls, the lack of clarity regarding the powers and the “disproportionate nature” of the measures.
The VP General Secretary Axel Melchior evaluated all this as a “tactical party game and a destructive fundamental opposition.” “You have to wonder why the opposition parties want to deprive the people of Austria of the opportunity to have fun,” Melchior said in a broadcast. The Greens only referred to today’s debate in Parliament. (dollar)
