Is Black and Blue fed up with fear of more democracy?
It’s unbelievable how aloof black and blue are once again acting here.”
LAbg. Manuel Krautgartner, MFG-OÖ Klubobmann
The Oo. On March 14, 2024, the state parliament held a symposium on the topic “Future of Democracy – Democracy of the Future” – an exciting, important and necessary discussion, especially in times like these. The event had its origins in a town in Upper Austria. The application received by the state parliament called for the further development of democracy. At the Upper Austrian committee meeting. The state parliament on March 21, 2024 should have followed the symposium with a further discussion on how the basic democratic principles can be further developed in Upper Austria on the underlying motion on the agenda. Who “voted away” the proposal without any further discussion of the content? The two governing parties ÖVP and FPÖ. “Once again it becomes clear that when the spotlights and cameras are switched off, democracy is a foreign concept to the country’s powerful people. It’s all about your own feeding trough and that Maintaining power at all costs, but not actual further development. “The black and blue are fed up with fear of more democracy,” says LAbg. Manuel Krautgartner, MFG-OÖ club chairman beside yourself with so much ignorance.
It is significant, almost disgusting, how the issue of democracy is trampled on by those in power. What always remains the same are the big words in the media, where everyone from Governor Stelzer down positions themselves as “guardians” and “preservers” of democracy. “And then just a few days after the media-wide democracy symposium they don’t even want to talk about it and devalue the entire process. It’s unbelievable how aloof the black and blue are once again acting here,” Manuel Krautgartner is literally talking himself into a rage – and rightly so, because such disregard for the common discourse is unparalleled.
“It’s unbelievable how remote it is here
“Black and blue will once again act.”
And democracy is in a dramatically bad state – or rather, the reputation of its executive bodies and the trust that the population places in them: According to the Democracy Monitor published in November 2023, only 41 percent of people in the middle income third believe that Our political system works well; in the bottom third of the income group it is only 24 percent. Only 32 percent of Austrians trust the federal government, and at the state level the result would probably be similarly dismal. Parliament doesn’t fare much better either, with 39 percent confidence. Obviously not a problem for Black and Blue if they once again easily duck the issue of further development of democracy.
What is forgotten: Discourse and allowing different opinions are the cornerstones of a functioning democracy and a prerequisite for our society and its structures to thrive. Although the trend that emerged in the discussion of the club chairmen at the Democracy Symposium on March 14, 2024 was that the dominant parties are sticking to the existing system, whereas young factions in the opposition are striving for change, events like these are where everyone unites Sitting down at the table and allowing different opinions and views to coexist and be discussed is a first step towards a culture of discourse that we have missed, especially in recent years. It would be a much-needed start to change.
The harsh but, given the aloofness of black and blue, unavoidably clear final words from Manuel Krautgartner: “When it comes to the real further development of democracy and the participation of the population, the state parliament is a comedy and sleaze theater. This proves not only the fact that the democracy development proposal was voted down without discussion, but also the general voting behavior that was always agreed upon and manipulated well in advance.”
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