AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 04, 2008

UNCLAS VIENNA 000311 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 04, 2008 Governing Parties in Free-Fall, Polls Say ¶1. The two governing parties, the OeVP and the SPOe, are in free fall in the wake of new allegations of political scandals and continued failure to agree on important issues, the most recent polls have revealed. The latest Gallup poll gives the OeVP 31 percent and the SPOe 29 percent of support. Support for the opposition Greens has meanwhile increased to 17 percent, for the FPOe to 15 percent, and for the FPOe spin-off BZOe to five percent. Nonetheless, only 31 percent of Austrians want an early general election, with 58 percent opposed to one. Polls show Austria's two main political parties, the OeVP and the SPOe, have experienced a dramatic decline in voters' support in recent months, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports. The daily quotes political scientist Anton Pelinka, who claims both parties want an early election, but only on condition that the other take the blame for the collapse of the government coalition. Despite the governing parties' plummeting popularity, a grand coalition between them continues to be Austrians' preferred arrangement, with 29 percent supporting it, a Gallup poll revealed. Thirteen percent of Austrians prefer a SPOe-Greens government, and only five percent would want a return to the OeVP-FPOe alliance. Meanwhile, mass-circulation tabloid Oesterreich believes only Austrian President Heinz Fischer can still help resolve the colation struggle. Claus Raidl, CEO of Boehler-Uddeholm and erstwhile advisor of former Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has called on the President to intervene in the government crisis and issue an ultimatum to the coalition partners. Should the two parties fail to return to cooperating on the most pressing political issues within the next three weeks, Fischer should dissolve the government in order to prevent the country from continuing paralysis. Parliament Gives Green Light to Investigating Committee ¶2. Votng against the People's Party MPs, the Austrian Paliament Monday approved the creation of a specia parliamentary investigating committee to look ino the alegations of abuse of office involving OVP ministers and top officials at the Interior Mnistry. Rejecting an appeal from its coalition parner OeVP, the Social Democrats backed the motionfor setting up such an inquiry tabled b the opposition parties, the Greens, the BZOe and the FPOe. The move has made the committee a certainty, Austrian media say, and suggest it has put a further strain on the SPOe-OeVP coalition. In addition to the Interior Ministry, the Ministries of Justice, Finance and Foreign Affairs will also be scrutinized by the parliamentary committee. ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal explains that the parliamentary investigating committee set up yesterday to look into allegations of abuse of office will examine 32 separate issues, including alleged payments from the formerly union-owned bank BAWAG to the Social Democrats and the recent convictions of Austrian staff in a number of embassies on charges of improperly issuing visas. Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung writes about an "exchange of verbal blows" in Parliament ahead of the vote to create the committee yesterday, which also saw "an unusual alliance of the SPOe, the Greens, the FPOe and the BZOe." Similarly, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung headlines: "Investigating committee a given: Everyone against the OeVP." Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Interior Minister Guenther Platter, whose ministry has come under fire most for allegations of abuse of office in recent years, complained about what he described as an "unholy alliance of the opposition and the SPOe," which only had "defamatory objectives," according to the Wiener Zeitung. Burqa-Clad Defendant Excluded From Terror Trial ¶3. Mona S., one of the defendants in a terrorism trial currently underway in Vienna, has been excluded from proceedings after she refused to remove her burqa in court. The trial judge at the beginning of proceedings ruled that the court would be unable to properly assess the defendant's statements because she insisted on wearing the full length veil. The woman and her husband, Mohamed M., are being tried on terrorism charges in connection with a video broadcast last March threatening Austria with terrorist attacks if it didn't withdraw troops from Afghanistan. State prosecutors have charged Mohamed M., the main suspect, with connections to terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, and Mona S. is accused of translating a document in relation to the video. The defendants have pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement in the production of the video. "Hillary Clinton: Last Exit Ohio?" ¶4. ... asks one Austrian daily, reporting that Democratic and Republican primaries are being held in four US states today. The main focus is on the polls in Ohio and Texas, where the results for the Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could be decisive. Analysts meanwhile say Clinton has to win both primaries to keep her chances of winning the nomination intact. Austrian radio suggests the "Texas and Ohio primaries could bring about a decision on the Democratic candidate. For Clinton, the vote is likely to determine her political survival." If she loses, "mounting pressure within the Democratic Party could force her to throw in the towel." Among the Republicans, John McCain is expected to be confirmed as his party's presidential candidate. All Austrian media have renewed their focus on the US primaries, and agree for the Democrats the votes in Texas and Ohio could well result in determining whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will emerge as their party's candidate. Almost all media argue it may come down to Texas and Ohio with regard to the future of Clinton's political ambitions, with semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung headlining "Clinton's survival struggle in Texas." The former First Lady is under "enormous pressure to win," as polls are predicting a neck-and-neck race between the two Democratic rivals. Likewise, mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung says Texas will "decide whether Clinton stays in the race." It is "high noon in the cowboy state," according to the newspaper. "A day of decisions," reads the headline in independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten. Analyzing the Democratic race for the White House, the daily says: "In principle, the former First Lady should be able to win, both in Texas and Ohio, as well as in tiny Rhode Island, which is basically Hillary's New York back yard. But the polls suggest chances she might be beaten by Barack Obama are quite real. A victory -- no matter how narrow -- either in Texas, or in Ohio, would suffice for Obama, the Democratic Party's new superstar, to secure his nomination once and for all." Washington correspondent for centrist daily Die Presse Norbert Rief agrees: Today's primaries are "D-Day for Hillary Clinton." Losing both states would "axe her candidacy." And according to Rief, "at least where Texas is concerned, it does not look like she's going to win. All polls see Obama ahead of her, and besides, he has won the last ten primaries in a row." Meanwhile, the "Republicans, too, seem to expect their candidate, John McCain, will be running against Obama. Lately, McCain has repeatedly attacked the Democratic presidential hopeful, accusing him of ignorance." Meanwhile, ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal quotes Paul Glastris, chief editor of the Washington monthly magazine, who says the primaries have already shown sharp change in the political climate in the US: "If you look at the candidates who have made it so far you see that the political debate has shifted rather dramatically to the left. John McCain on key issues was far more moderate than all the other Republican candidates. The person leading on the Democratic side right now is Barack Obama who is more liberal on most measures than Hillary Clinton," Glastris argues. Rice Calls for New Mideast Peace Effort ¶5. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is beginning a visit to the Middle East, and has called for new efforts for a peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel. Austrian media quote the Seretary of State as stressing ahead of her trip sheis confident a peace accord between Israel and th Palestinians can be concluded this year. Her viit comes shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas broke off peace talks in protest at Israel's recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has left dead more than 100 Palestinians. Israel has meanwhile warned of new action, unless Palestinians put a stop to rocket attacks from Gaza, according to ORF online news. UNSC Votes for New Iran Sanctions ¶6. The United Nations Security Council has voted overwhelmingly in favor of new sanctions against Iran because of the country's nuclear ambitions. The third round of sanctions includes asset freezes and travel bans for Iranian officials, and also bans the sale to Iran of so-called dual-use items, which can have either a military or civilian purpose. Tehran meanwhile continues to say suspicions it is trying to develop nuclear weapons are unfounded. Reporting on the United Nations Security Council's vote in favor of new sanctions on Iran in the dispute over the country's nuclear program, ORF radio in its early morning news Morgenjournal points out yet another round of sanctions might be looming in three months' time, should Iran fail to cooperate sufficiently with the UN in this matter. Diplomats in Vienna have explained Russia backed the new sanctions on the condition that Western nations forego plans for a resolution on Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency. Nonetheless, after Mondays' UNSC session, the five UN veto powers and Germany emphasized their continuing commitment to a diplomatic solution. The fact remains, though, that "now, it is official: The world's lack of trust in Iran has reached a new, unprecedented high. The UNSC has never been as united on the issue as this time. (...) After all, international suspicion has grown recently that Iran is covertly working on nuclear weapons," commentator for the Morgenjournal Elisabeth Manas says. Kilner