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The Ischgl Commission report, which was presented on Monday, was also a topic in the National Council on Wednesday. The Neos wanted to discuss the role of the federal government in an “urgent matter.” The opposition mainly targeted Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP). This spread panic, chaos and uncertainty, stated almost word for word Douglas Hoyos (Neos), Pamela Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ) and Gerhard Kaniak (FPÖ). The ÖVP, for its part, described the government as a haven of calm, while the President of the Green Club, Sigrid Maurer, specifically described the Minister of Social Affairs.
While the issue of when to close the ski area and après-ski bars, locating contacts for foreign guests who have already left, and public relations are the responsibility of state and district authorities, the report mentions specifically the federal government press conference on March 13. criticized when Chancellor Kurz announced the imposition of quarantine in the towns of Ischgl and St. Anton. As an immediate reaction, thousands of guests tried to leave the ski areas immediately. There was chaos.
Ads without preparation
FP mandator Kaniak accused the government that the affected regions had not been given time to prepare. But this is typical of the actions of the government, which he called: “Put an end to its ineffable advertising policy.” Because what the coalition is creating with its “incredible misconduct” is uncertainty among both citizens and authorities.
The Neos Hoyos MP has the same assessment, who specifically accused Kurz of sowing panic at press conferences. But the head of government does not take responsibility if something does not work. Then she will be rejected. SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner spoke of a “multi-organ failure”.
ÖVP Undersecretary General Gaby Schwarz was surprised and said: “This federal government has taken responsibility from the start.” You always appeared as a team, which brought calm in a challenging situation. The opposition called them to face the pandemic together: “The virus is not a political-partisan event.” The president of the green club, Maurer, particularly praised the Minister of Health, Rudolf Anschober. With his calm, the Minister for Social Affairs can give Austrians a lot of security.
Anschober admitted mistakes
Anschober admitted mistakes in the Ischgl case. “It certainly didn’t go well on this issue,” he said, but referred to the extraordinary situation at the time. Many of the criticisms of the expert report are “understandable” to him. These would affect “mainly” the state of Tyrol, but also things that fall under the federal government. From today’s perspective, the criticism is partly understandable, but it was also challenging work at the time. The authorities have achieved a lot, but they have also learned a lot. “We take this investigative report absolutely seriously,” said the Health Minister.
The process of implementing the recommendations of the expert commission has already started and will now be implemented accordingly in cooperation with the State of Tyrol. Anschober noted that there was an “exceptional special situation” from early to mid-March. At that time there was less information or sometimes different information from experts, such as the mask requirement. Their attitudes and views on individual measures also changed in the course of the pandemic. The time factor and speed are a great challenge during a pandemic. However, the numbers showed that Austria weathered the pandemic comparatively well. “I am proud of everyone who contributed to this.”
Neos wanted to know more about Anschober’s criticized press conference. In the run-up to this, there was a video conference with the heads of state, the health minister said. Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) reported on the closure of ski areas. This was followed by a meeting between Kurz, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and himself, in which it was concluded that the quarantine should be imposed on Tyrolean sites. Then Kurz spoke to Platter on the phone. Crisis teams had also been briefed and the Landeck district administration had initiated appropriate measures, Anschober said.
As Neos health spokesperson Gerald Loacker had previously said in the reasoning of the request, thanks to the expert report on the Ischgl case, it is now “in black and white” that errors have occurred at all levels, that is , federal, state and local authorities. The state parliament should clarify what went wrong in Tyrol, Loacker said: “We are seeing what went wrong in the federal government.” In this sense, the commission of experts also lists a series of errors, such as a “very old” epidemic law or the lack of anti-pandemic plans. But even the “slippage” of the Federal Chancellor, who was not actually responsible, without the knowledge of the responsible authorities, caused chaos.
