The Crux of the Matter with the Alliances

Why Walter Ruck Continues to Be a Concern for the ÖVP

According to Vienna’s ÖVP leader Markus Figl (left), Ruck should no longer play a role. Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner welcomed the ouster of the Chamber of Commerce boss.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Reinhard Holl, Martin Jöchl, Imre Antal)

After the leaked transcripts of conversations brought the unsavory system surrounding Vienna Chamber of Commerce boss Walter Ruck into the public eye, the ÖVP expelled him from the party on Friday evening. But that doesn’t mean the issue is off the table by any means. Meanwhile, support for his expulsion came particularly from Lower Austria. 

Following Ruck’s expulsion, Vienna ÖVP leader Markus Figl spoke out on Saturday to clarify that while Ruck remains chairman of the Vienna ÖVP Economic Association and president of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, is, of course, no longer part of the state party executive committee or presidium. “Someone who is not a member is also not part of any committees of the Vienna People’s Party,” Figl said on Ö1’s “Morgenjournal.” Anything else would be “absurd” or a “logical contradiction.”

Economic Association Stands by Ruck
However, the matter does not seem quite so clear-cut, as even the Economic Association itself recently took a different view. The background to the debate: The ÖVP is organized into regional associations. While the federal party can expel Ruck from the ÖVP, it cannot expel him from the ÖVP Economic Association. The Economic Association, for its part, has so far stood by Ruck.

The ÖVP’s Affiliated Organizations

The six federations of the People’s Party partly reflect the party’s historical origins, but also its conservative-bourgeois orientation. Members are also mostly recruited into the party by joining one of these federations. These are:

• Young ÖVP (JVP)
• Austrian Workers’ Federation (ÖAAB)
• Austrian Farmers’ Association (BB)
• Austrian Seniors’ Association “ ” (ÖSB)
• Austrian Economic Federation (WB)
• ÖVP Women

According to the bylaws, the provincial chairpersons of the affiliated organizations are members of the Vienna ÖVP’s provincial party executive committee or presidium. However, the bylaws also state elsewhere: “Officials are party members who hold a position in the ÖVP on a volunteer basis in accordance with the provisions of these bylaws.” Accordingly, anyone who is not a party member cannot hold a position in the Vienna ÖVP.

According to Vienna’s ÖVP leader Markus Figl (left), Ruck is no longer expected to play a role. Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner welcomed the expulsion of the Chamber of Commerce chief.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Reinhard Holl, Martin Jöchl, Imre Antal)

Ruck Rarely Attended Meetings
In practice, however, the issue had hardly come up recently, Markus Figl—who, incidentally, is the great-nephew of ÖVP co-founder Leopold Figl—noted in the “Morgenjournal.” Ruck had attended only a single committee meeting in the past year. “His significance in that regard was minimal.” The next ÖVP committee meetings will take place this fall, it was announced on Saturday. The People’s Party emphasized that it is surprising that only Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) is still standing by Ruck. 

Mikl-Leitner Welcomes Expulsion
Speaking of power dynamics: Lower Austria’s Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) has welcomed Ruck’s expulsion. Party Chairman Christian Stocker has thereby “sent an important and correct signal,” according to the chairwoman of the Lower Austrian state party. If trust is permanently shaken, “clear consequences are needed”—especially when there is no clear willingness to “cooperate constructively in addressing the issue or clarifying the matter.”

Mikl-Leitner reminded everyone “how important decency, respect, and reliability are for living together.” Especially from those “who bear responsibility for our state and our community, we rightly expect all the more that they live up to these values.” And as a mother of two daughters, the governor added: “The women and girls in our state must be able to rely on us to protect them. That we live together as equals in our state and that everyone has the same opportunities. It is our duty to ensure this. No more and no less.”

“The Only Correct Course of Action”
Former minister and federal chairwoman of the ÖVP Women’s Association, Juliane Bogner-Strauß, also made it clear to the “Krone”: “Walter Ruck’s expulsion is the only correct course of action. We have made it clear from the very beginning: We do not look the other way when women are devalued and belittled. These words have now been followed by action.” She thanked the Federal Chancellor and party chairman “for his swift and decisive action.” “He has shown that the People’s Party’s values are non-negotiable. Respect for women is not just lip service; it is demonstrated through daily actions. That is exactly what the People’s Party has proven with this decision.”

Salzburg Governor Karoline Edtstadler echoed this sentiment in a press release: “Such behavior has no place in Austrian politics in the 21st century—neither in the party, nor in the Economic Association, nor in the Chamber of Commerce, where Martha Schultz is currently driving reforms forward with passion,” she said, addressing Ruck. For Christoph Zarits, chairman of the Burgenland ÖVP, the expulsion clearly demonstrated “that decency, respect, and responsibility are not empty words.”

FPÖ: “A Declaration of Bankruptcy”
Meanwhile, the FPÖ views Ruck’s expulsion as “an admission of failure by a government in the process of disintegrating.” This move is “nothing more than a desperate maneuver by a party that is in danger of sinking into its own quagmire of abuse of power and intrigue,” said Secretary-General Christian Hafenecker in a press release.

Incidentally, the NEOS believes that Ruck’s expulsion from the party does not go far enough. While it is an “unmistakable signal,” said NEOS Secretary-General Douglas Hoyos, “it is time for all of Walter Ruck’s other circles of friends to withdraw their protection as well.” 

Similar sentiments are being expressed by the Greens. They described the expulsion as an “inevitable step”: “It shows that the Ruck system is at an end. Political patronage, cronyism, trickery surrounding the results of the Chamber of Commerce election, and an outdated view of women have no place in 2026,” said Vienna Party Chair Peter Kaus: “We now need this same clarity from the mayor of Vienna. After all, he is part of the system that has been characterized by backroom deals over wine.”