"Krone" commentary

Harald Mahrer must know what to do now

Commentary on the major issues affecting Austria: Klaus Herrmann, Managing Editor-in-Chief.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Imre Antal, stock.adobe.com)

Despair, anger, tears: this is how the mood in the Chamber of Commerce is described. "Everything is going down the drain here," is what you hear, as well as: "Our decades of good work for the chamber members is suddenly worth nothing."

Yes, everything is now being called into question. Triggered by an insensitive, intemperate Chamber leadership that seems to have lost all common sense.

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

President Mahrer, who has done pretty much everything wrong that can be done wrong in the last few days, has become a heavy burden for "his" chamber, and many in the WKO believe that it is threatening its existence.

This is because the meaningfulness of compulsory membership is now being questioned ever more loudly - and even the necessity of the Chamber of Commerce, and ultimately the all-important social partnership.

Apart from the fact that the justification for its existence can and should always be discussed: But of course the Chamber of Commerce, like the Chamber of Labor, its counterpart on the employee side, has many important tasks. And only compulsory membership gives it weight.

If this weight is severely shaken by the President, then consequences must be drawn.

Harald Mahrer no longer has the Chamber behind him. The ÖVP, for whom he also became a heavy burden in difficult times, no longer has his back.

He must know what to do now.