Even without the SPÖ

The SP is now running away from the votes

The new conference center at the trade fair is being built.

(Bild: Kärntner Messen)

The FP, VP and Team Kärnten in Klagenfurt have decided that the conference center at the exhibition grounds will be built. The SP left the hall before the vote. All political projects can currently be decided by the conservative majority - it doesn't matter what the SP, as the party with the most votes, says.

The construction of the conference center for the trade fair was decided on Tuesday in the Klagenfurt city senate with the votes of the FP, VP and Team Kärnten. The project costs 20 million euros, Klagenfurt has to contribute five million, ten million will be paid by the trade fair itself and five million by the state.

Liesnig was absent from the decision
City deputy and finance officer Philipp Liesnig (SP), who had long blocked the conference center, was absent. SP city councillor Franz Petritz therefore tabled the motion. During the vote, however, the SP left the room. Petritz: "We demand that the Chamber of Commerce should also contribute, as it owns 26 percent of the Carinthian trade fairs. According to the accounts, they have reserves amounting to 54 million euros." For the sake of form, the municipal council still has to give the go-ahead for the conference center. "It could be that the entire SP leaves the chamber again next Wednesday during the vote," says Petritz. Yet the SP is the party with the most votes in Klagenfurt, something like this has never happened before.

Mayor Scheider, Trade Fair President Kogler and Managing Director Erler can build.

(Bild: Stadtpresse / Dietmar Wajand)

Trade Fair President Harald Kogler rejects the SP's demand: "The Chamber of Commerce permanently pays for so many expenses and also finances the Makerspace. That is more than enough. I no longer understand the SP and its approach at all. Philipp Liesnig was absent for the fourth time in a row. Is that still acceptable in the party? In times of the Koralmbahn, we urgently need the conference center. We're already behind schedule anyway because of the months of political discussions about its completion."

What is SP leader Philipp Liesnig doing? He was absent from the city senate.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek)

WKO detects cheating
WK President Jürgen Mandl: "The 54 million euros in reserves is not true. The guilds are involved, I have no access. Are the entrepreneurs supposed to pay three times over? They are already anchored to the trade fair company anyway and are also paying for the catering expenses. Should they now also pay for the hall itself?"

Mayor Christian Scheider (TK): "The SP is only controlled by Liesnig. We need a decision in principle for the construction, that's what the city senate was all about. Thanks to the conservative majority, it is now on the table."

The structural reform was also shifted from the SP to the municipal council. 22 departments are to be reduced to twelve in future. The aim is to save 2.4 million euros a year. This proposal for structural reform is already many years old. The SP is currently absent from almost all important decisions in Klagenfurt. Nevertheless, the conservative majority is implementing the plans. When will the political wrangling in the town hall come to an end?