"Maturely considered"

Now it’s fixed! Dornauer fights his expulsion from the party

Georg Dornauer contests his exclusion.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Now the cat is out of the bag: Tyrol's former SPÖ leader and now independent mandatary Georg Dornauer is contesting his expulsion from the party, which took place the previous week. He applies to the Federal Arbitration Court, which the provincial party intends to comply with. The "Krone" knows all the details.

On one and the same day the previous week, Georg Dornauer was expelled from both the club and the party by the Tyrolean SPÖ - because he had violated the self-negotiated rules. The following day, he launched a proper counter-attack and put exciting facts and figures on the table. The "Krone" reported in detail. 

"There was never any damage in the room"
He left the question of whether he would take action against the expulsion from the party unanswered at the time. He simply said: "I don't think the expulsion would hold - in the end, the wrong committee deliberated and decided. There was never any immediate damage that needed to be averted. And an arbitration tribunal should have been initiated, as provided for in our statutes."

It is very important to me to get my rights.

Georg Dornauer

Georg Dornauer contests his exclusion.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

"It's very important to me to get my rights"
Now, after a few days of reflection, he has made a decision: He will appeal his expulsion from the party! "It's very important to me to get my rights. I am firmly convinced that the Federal Arbitration Court will guarantee a fair trial. Time will tell everything else," he said in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper.

"Incompetent and biased provincial party board"
The final version of the objection is available to the "Krone" in written and spoken form. It reveals further details. "This resolution was passed by an incompetent and biased provincial party executive committee and is therefore null and void. Furthermore, the decision is flawed because it is not clear what misconduct I am accused of," says the 42-year-old, "I am therefore requesting the appointment of the Federal Arbitration Court - due to the particular importance and situation of the case.

"I was denied this right"
And: "Another general procedural principle is the right to be heard. Parties to proceedings must have the opportunity to comment on allegations and the results of the proceedings and to present their side of the story. I was denied this right. I was not invited to the meeting of the state party executive committee, there was no agenda and I was not informed that my expulsion from the party was to be discussed and voted on," Dornauer explains.

The planned process now provides for the establishment of an arbitration tribunal, and we are of course taking this step.

SPÖ-Landesgeschäftsführerin Eva Steibl-Egenbauer

Party wants to set up arbitration tribunal
The SPÖ Tirol explained that it had expected Dornauer's challenge - "that is the right of every member", said regional managing director Eva Steibl-Egenbauer. "The planned process now provides for the appointment of an arbitration tribunal, and we are of course taking this step." The provincial party executive of the SPÖ Tyrol is responsible for this, a transfer to federal level would not be appropriate, "as this is a conflict between the SPÖ Tyrol and the Tyrolean MP Dornauer". 

An initial legal assessment had already pointed out - as also reported - that Dornauer's removal was in breach of current SPÖ statutes.