Styria opposition condemns vote error and alleged rule breach

Opposition parties in Styria accused the governing FPÖ and ÖVP of breaking parliamentary principles after the two parties mistakenly voted against their own proposal, ORF reported. The vote took place on Tuesday in the Styrian state parliament and concerned a proposed law banning political Islam.

The error led to heated exchanges, after which the opposition parties left the chamber together. On Wednesday, the SPÖ, Greens, NEOS and KPÖ presented a joint response at a news conference.

SPÖ parliamentary group leader Hannes Schwarz said Tuesday’s events needed to be reviewed, stressing that the issue was not the proposal’s content but the need for parliamentary rules to apply to all parties. Green group leader Sandra Krautwaschl said parliaments were central to the rule of law and that all parties had to follow parliamentary procedures.

NEOS group leader Niko Swatek said voting errors were human, but that breaking laws afterwards to secure a desired result was extremely dangerous. KPÖ group leader Claudia Klimt-Weithaler accused the FPÖ and ÖVP of trying to avoid responsibility for the mistake by breaching parliamentary rules. She noted that the proposal concerned a law with constitutional status.