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The two-time founder of the republic was instrumental in shaping the history of Austria: “Karl Renner laid the foundations for a modern welfare state and a democratic Austria.”
Vienna (OTS / SK) – Today 150 years ago Karl Renner was born, one of the most important figures of the Social Democracy. On this occasion, the SPÖ pays tribute to Renner’s social and democratic services: “As a founding father, Karl Renner was in the cradle of both the First and Second Republic. As Chancellor of State, Chairman of the National Council and Federal President, he helped shape Austria. He is one of the great pioneers of the republic who are largely responsible for the fact that we now live in one of the most prosperous and social countries in the world. Under Renner’s chancellery, the foundations were laid for the modern welfare state and a democratic Austria. What the Social Democracy has deeply internalized in Karl Renner’s successor is that democracy, social cohesion and justice are paramount ”, the president of the SPÖ federal party, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, told the SPÖ press service on Monday. SPÖ Federal Manager Christian Deutsch. ****
Renner was a politician who did not look the other way when faced with misery. On the contrary: precisely because of his own experience of poverty, he became a co-founder of a strong welfare state, ”said Rendi-Wagner. During the Renner I to III governments, socio-political milestones were decided such as the eight-hour day, unemployment insurance, the extension of sickness and accident insurance, the right to vacation for workers and the creation of the Chamber of Labor. “It was and is in the very image of social democracy to further develop our welfare state, strengthen it and also defend it time and again against attacks. As obvious as Renner’s achievements may seem today, without social democracy, many of them would go back to being history, ”said Rendi-Wagner.
“It is particularly clear now in the Corona crisis that the importance of a strong welfare state, which cannot be sufficiently evaluated,” says Deutsch, who, among other things, points to enormously high unemployment for months. “Belief in neoliberalism and the self-healing powers of the free market will certainly not help here,” said the SPÖ federal manager. This also applies to the fight against the social and economic consequences of the Crown crisis “and also to the proper functioning of our public health system, which is more important than ever today.”
In addition to socio-political reforms, it was above all the strengthening of democracy that Renner, also under the impression of two world wars, always promoted. After the Second World War, it was mainly thanks to him that an undivided and democratic state re-emerged. Renner also commissioned Hans Kelsen to write our constitution. “And one of its most prominent democratic reforms was the implementation of general equal rights for men and women in 1918,” said the SPÖ leader. (Conclusion) up / bj / sc
Queries and contact:
Federal organization SPÖ, press service, Löwelstrasse 18, 1010 Vienna
Tel.: 01 / 53427-275
https://www.spoe.at/impressum/
