ÖVP ethics council seeks response over Tschann conviction

The ÖVP’s ethics council has asked the party’s Vorarlberg branch for a statement after it continued to support Bludenz Mayor Simon Tschann despite his final conviction for abuse of office, ORF Vorarlberg reported Tuesday.

Ethics council chair Waltraud Klasnic said the body would examine the matter. The Vorarlberg branch of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) backed Tschann after the conviction. State Governor and ÖVP leader Markus Wallner said Monday that Tschann had been elected by voters and that this should be respected, as should the Supreme Court ruling.

Opposition parties SPÖ and NEOS criticised Wallner’s response and renewed calls for Tschann to resign. NEOS parliamentary group leader Claudia Gamon accused Wallner of downplaying the conviction and called on him to demand consequences. SPÖ leader Mario Leiter said Wallner was putting his credibility and public trust in politics at risk by applying a different standard to a fellow party member.

Leiter said winning an election did not give a mayor the right to act without regard to the law. The FPÖ’s parliamentary group leader in the Vorarlberg state parliament, Joachim Weixlbaumer, said the decision to stay in office was Tschann’s. The Greens called on Tschann on Monday to give up his supervisory board positions, saying the conviction created a damaging impression for the ÖVP.

The state opposition parties, the Greens, NEOS and SPÖ, plan to hold a joint news conference on Wednesday and call for Tschann to leave office.

Opposition members in Bludenz are also demanding his resignation and say mistrust is affecting political work in the city council. NEOS representative Ricardo Griesser said the conviction had already caused a clear loss of confidence. He expected mistrust to feature at next week’s council meeting, where his party wants the conviction added to the agenda. It remains unclear whether motions against Tschann will be put forward. Bludenz SPÖ leader Antonio della Rossa also called for Tschann to resign, criticising him for not apologising and for showing no awareness of wrongdoing.

Conviction is final, sentence still pending

Austria’s Supreme Court rejected Tschann’s appeal against the conviction, leaving the guilty verdict for abuse of office in a building-permit case final. The Higher Regional Court in Innsbruck will decide the sentence.

The case concerns a building project on Fohrenburgstraße in Bludenz in 2021. The court found that Tschann granted planning permission without examining a critical assessment from an official expert, and that he did so as a favour. It also found that he adjusted his statements to the progress of the investigation and gave false information about the project.

The public prosecutor’s office confirmed to ORF on Monday that further investigations related to Tschann are under way.