"Krone" commentary

Kickl rubs his hands in glee at so much chutzpah

Conny Bischofberger comments on current events for the "Krone".(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

Why on earth does the new black-red-pink government need seven state secretaries in addition to 14 ministers? The answer is: to finally slim down the seats on the government bench in the new parliament! They will actually have to be rebuilt soon because there are only 18 seats. Three too few for the "treat" of 21 members of government.

And then this bloated coalition seriously swears us in for "two tough years". It is abolishing the climate bonus, educational leave and many subsidies, making cigarettes, passports and driving licenses more expensive and taking significantly more money from pensioners for health insurance. This year alone, 6.4 billion euros are to be saved in order to avert an EU deficit procedure.
Everyone is making savings, except the government itself.

Instead of reducing the number of ministries, there is now a red state secretary in the black Ministry of the Interior and a black overseer in the red Ministry of Finance. The chancellor, vice-chancellor and three ministers have state secretaries from their own ranks. This is reminiscent of the only three-party coalition that has ever existed at federal level: in 1945, when the ÖVP, SPÖ and KPÖ formed a concentration government and, out of sheer mistrust, double- and triple-staffed all ministries.

Incidentally, a "mini-minister" earns 17,000 euros gross per man or woman and nose 14 times a year. Herbert Kickl is already rubbing his hands with so much chutzpah.