CORRUPTION CHARGES STRAIN AUSTRIA'S VOLATILE COALITION

UNCLAS VIENNA 000220

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AU

SUBJECT: CORRUPTION CHARGES STRAIN AUSTRIA'S VOLATILE COALITION


Summary
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1. (SBU) Austria's volatile coalition of Social Democrats (SPO) and
Conservatives (OVP) has plunged into another crisis of confidence
following corruption charges by a fired top police official against
senior aides of former OVP interior ministers. While the public
prosecutor is looking into allegations of obfuscation and abuse of
office inside the OVP-held Interior Ministry, the Social Democrats,
joined by the three opposition parties, have called for a
parliamentary investigating committee. The OVP announced it would
consider SPO support for such a panel no less than a "declaration of
war." This latest spat between the two reluctant partners has
triggered renewed speculation about a coalition break up. For now,
observers believe the two parties, both of which have scored poorly
in recent voter approval polls, will hold out. However, the affair
has paralyzed the coalition and confirmed public perceptions that
its reform momentum has evaporated after little more than a year in
power. End summary.

Top Cop Blows Whistle
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2. (SBU) The controversy was triggered by Herwig Haidinger, the
recently ousted director of Austria's Federal Crime Investigation
Bureau (BKA),who last week accused senior officials in the OVP-held
Interior Ministry of efforts to use the Bureau for political
purposes. Specifically, Haidinger indicated that Natascha Kampusch,
abducted in 1998 and held for over eight years, might have been
released shortly after being kidnapped if police investigators had
not ignored a tip in April 1998 from a local policeman that pointed
to her kidnapper. He also alleged that Interior Ministry officials
refused to look into the accusation once Kampusch reappeared, so as
to avoid a scandal in the run-up to parliamentary elections that
fall.


3. (SBU) In addition, Haidinger alleged that a former, senior
Interior Ministry aide had pressed him to provide confidential
information about an SPO-affiliated banking scandal to OVP
parliamentarians in an effort to compromise the Social Democrats.
Moreover, Haidinger alleged that top OVP ministry aides had ordered
police investigators to collect discrediting information against a
lawyer defending a prominent Kosovo-born asylum applicant against
deportation. More lurid accusations by the ousted BKA chief focus on
a top Interior Ministry aide who stands accused of using his
Ministry credit card in a Vienna sex bar, harassing female
secretaries in the Ministry, and asking police to cover up a drunk

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driving incident in which he was involved.

Reactions
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4. (SBU) The allegations by Haidinger have infuriated the coalition
partner SPO as well as the opposition Greens, FPO and BZO. The
opposition parties called for the establishment of an ad-hoc
investigating committee in parliament to look into the charges
against OVP Ministry officials and assess political accountability.
While the SPO initially took a wait-and-see position as it weighed
possible further damage to the (already soured) coalition chemistry,
provincial SPO leaders have left no doubt they want to see such a
panel. SPO votes would be required to secure the 91 votes needed to
establish a parliamentary investigation.


5. (SBU) In reaction, the OVP has warned the Social Democrats that
complicity with the opposition parties in establishing a
parliamentary investigating panel would "formally constitute a
breach of the coalition pact," or, as one OVP backbencher put it, be
"a declaration of war." In a forward defense by the OVP, deputy OVP
whip Guenter Stummvoll indicated February 12 that the OVP could
likewise "reveal compromising material" about Interior Ministry
shenanigans dating back to before 2000, when the Ministry was still
led by the SPO. The opposition parties competed for outrage over the
affair. The Greens called it "a scandal exclusively attributable to
the OVP," the FPO spoke of a "pig sty in the Interior Ministry,"
while the BZO likened the Ministry actions to "Stasi methods."


6. (SBU) In view of intense public and political outrage, OVP
Interior Minister Platter moved to set up a commission of experts
from within and outside his ministry to look into the charges. At
the same time, the public prosecutor has initiated investigations
into the matter. Politically, the SPO will take Platter to task in a
session of the Upper House February 14. Moreover, parties in
parliament agreed February 13 to schedule an extraordinary session
of parliament's Domestic Security Committee for late February to
discuss the affair. Still, the SPO has left no doubt that, should
answers expected from Platter and the OVP in general remain
unsatisfactory, it would join the opposition parties in setting up
the much disputed investigation committee. Chancellor Gusenbauer's
willingness to postpone a decision has reportedly led to outrage in
SPO provincial organizations, which had already been unhappy with
the Chancellor's past concessions to the OVP.

Comment
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7. (SBU) The SPO has various reasons for wanting to see its
coalition partner embarrassed. First, the SPO, which held the
Interior Ministry from 1945 until 2000, sees a chance to take
revenge on the OVP for the massive ouster of top, SPO-leaning
Ministry officials after the OVP assumed charge in 2000. Second, the
accusations against the OVP serve as a welcome opportunity to make
up for a series of OVP-inflicted political humiliations since the
reluctant SPO-OVP coalition took office in 2007. Third, the Social
Democrats may use this finger-pointing at the OVP to deflect
attention from their own sagging popularity lately. This poor public
image is attributed to some degree to the SPO's clumsy political
salesmanship, but even more to Chancellor Gusenbauer's lack of
leadership and charisma. With all eyes on the OVP, the SPO no doubt
would like to regain some political respectability from this scandal
at the expense of its junior coalition partner.


8. (SBU) The scandal has reinforced the perception of the GOA as a
coalition of the unwilling. Nevertheless, political pundits believe
that, for now, both parties would only stand to lose from early
elections. The two parties' (and their leaders') poor public image,
as well as the lack of attractive alternative coalition partners,
may force the coalition to hang on for now.

Kilner