Vienna FPÖ outraged

Request for special session on violence rejected

The Vienna FPÖ has been rebuffed with a motion for a special municipal council meeting on the subject of "rampant violence by asylum seekers in Vienna". The Blue Party speaks of a "democratic political scandal in a class of its own".

The municipal administration had examined the application and found it to be inadmissible, explained council chairman Thomas Reindl (SPÖ). The maintenance of public peace, order and security are matters for the federal government in legislation and enforcement, he explained.

Vienna's FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp was outraged and spoke of a "democratic political scandal in a class of its own". Special sessions with similar titles had been permitted in the past, the Freedom Party argued. The chairman of the municipal council takes a different view: The mayor and the members of the Vienna City Council are obliged to act in accordance with the legal requirements of the Vienna City Constitution and the council's rules of procedure.

Verbal exchange of blows between FPÖ and SPÖ
Reindl called on the FPÖ to "return to the constitutional arc of the City of Vienna and adapt their style and tone to the dignity of the municipal council". The FPÖ did not accept this argument and accused the SPÖ of not allowing democratic debates in the municipal council if they were not in the interests of the mayor's party.