Emanuel Tomaselli
21 May 2019
Last Saturday, the Austrian
government, made up of the main bourgeois party, ÖVP and right-wing Freedom
Party (FPÖ), stepped down and announced re-elections. In a spontaneous
demonstration, 10,000 people gathered in Vienna to celebrate. This is a setback
for the bourgeois bloc, who have been diligently working on attacking the
working class to prepare the capitalists for the next crisis.
But it was not the mobilised
working class who brought down the government, and the capitalists and their
politicians are adamant on continuing their agenda. The Left, starting with the
Socialist Youth, must use this opening to bring down the bourgeois bloc for
real.
On Friday evening, two German
media sources published short excerpts of a several-hour-long, secretly filmed video.
The Ibiza video features FPÖ politicians Heinz-Christian Strache and Johann
Gudenus hinting that corporations purchased favourable legislation via party
donations. Strache named several Austrian corporations and personalities who
enforced their interests in this way. Despite Strache’s boasting, he also gives
away that these donors not only finance his party but “all of them”. He
mentions the weapons producer Glock, the property speculator René Benko and the
billionaire Heidi Horten, as well as the gambling group Novomatic.
Besides specific laws, these
ladies and gentlemen also anticipate lower taxes for the rich. Furthermore,
Strache raises the prospect of privatisation (of drinking water, for example),
handing over part of the public news channel ORF to the Red Bull-billionaire
Didi Mateschitz (who calls himself “Red Bull Boy”) and bribes for public
infrastructure projects. He talks about buying media content and journalists
and shows particular interest in controlling the biggest tabloid in Austria,
Kronen Zeitung.
The two politicians, Strache
and Gudenus, are visibly under the influence of drugs and negotiate with
someone they believe to be a rich, Russian oligarch, allegedly looking for new
possibilities in Austria. In fact, it is an actress, who for months played her
part in this charade.
Liberalism and the EU vs.
nationalism and populism
This video is now being
publicly used to bring down Strache and to weaken the “populists” in Europe.
Here, we see a conflict carried out within the ruling class, between the nationalist-demagogic
capitalists on one side and the liberal-multilateral oriented capitalists on
the other. The timing is obvious: this coming weekend, the EU elections will
take place, where the functionality of the European Union, and with it the competitiveness
of the European capital in the international trade war, are at stake. The
capitalists want to prevent an electoral victory for Salvini, Le Pen, Strache
etc. They want to guarantee that important political positions will be filled
with persons they deem trustworthy. The capitalists in Europe want a
functioning, strong EU, that can assert its interests within and outside the EU
without making too much noise. Such as it was during the “Greek debt crisis”,
when a country and its people were sacrificed for the stability of European
banks. It’s no secret that this political status-quo is also being defended by
manipulating the “public debate.” It has been openly declared by the
EU-commission and the French president Macron (written in his open
letter to the citizens of Europe).
While Strache now tries to
one-sidedly present himself as a victim of a conspiracy, the liberal media
styles the FPÖ as the sole traitors of the nation. Many international
commentators (such as Angela Merkel) emphasise the danger of populism in
general, and Russian lobbying in particular (such as the New York Times). The
latter is a particularly flimsy argument since the only Russian aspect of the
fateful night in Ibiza was the vodka. Both interpretations are one-sided and
conceal more than they explain. But put together they paint a picture a little
closer to the truth. Yes, the timely publication of the Ibiza-Tape serves
political interests, and yes, they represent the general truth, which is that
capitalists and their political staff engage in constant horse tradings amongst
each other to serve their interests and manage their shared exploitation for the
working class, which they all regard with contempt.
Fake oligarchs vs. regular
“democratic” exercise of power
The Conservative Party (ÖVP)
exceeded the legal election campaign spending by almost double (specifically,
by 6 million Euros) in 2017, and their funds are not transparent. The political
homepage of Blümel, an associate of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, owns a certain
“Society for Supporting Bourgeois Policies” whose address is the same as the
ÖVP-headquarters. For what might he use such complicated legal constructions?
After all, Blümel is chairman of the ÖVP-Vienna, so why the need for an
additional “Society” as a political platform?
Consider the “independent”
Kronen Zeitung. Estate speculator René Benko now owns one-quarter of this media
machine and is fighting in court for full control. Benko belongs to the circle
of businessmen around ÖVP-chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who helped him personally
in securing a highly lucrative estate-deal in an expensive shopping area in
Vienna. Kurz called this “service-oriented administration”.
One more political event last
week also reveals the bankruptcy of bourgeois democracy. The Department for
Prosecution of Economy and Corruption indicted their own head, the highest
justice official of the republic, Christian Pilnacek, who is general secretary
in the ÖVP-led Ministry of Justice. Pilnacek is accused of impeding a
long-lasting corruption investigation around an arms purchase that happened
during the last ÖVP/Freedom Party government in 2002. Where is the liberal
outcry against corruption in this case? Why is chancellor Kurz worried about
the independence of the judiciary and the police in the case of the
Ibiza-Tapes, but at the same time protects this high-ranking justice official
who is close to the ÖVP?
The list of hypocrisy is
endless and only leads to one conclusion: Kurz is just like Strache, but with
real power in the state apparatus, real influence on the media and real support
from the capitalists, as opposed to the wannabes from the Freedom Party. The
Ibiza-Tape doesn’t show the power of the Freedom Party but their impotence in
elite circles, and their incompetence. Their connection to the capitalists is
weaker. The real politics, in the interest of stability and profits for the
capitalist system, are being organised via the ÖVP.
Manoeuvres in the interest of
the capitalist system
It’s unclear why liberal
European strategists (whose main profiteer is Germany) chose Austria to make an
example of. But objectively, Austria still has some room to improve the general
situation of European capital.
For one, there is the
Russia-affinity of Austria. Only this week, Austria’s “Green” president,
Alexander Van der Bellen assured Russia’s president Putin of his continued
partnership. To be more exact, president Van der Bellen spoke against the EU
sanctions against Russia and in favour of the gas-pipeline-project Nord Stream
2. After all, Austria’s most important banking group, Raiffeisen bank, makes 40
percent of their profits in Russia and the export market to Russia is booming,
despite the EU-sanctions. The Austrian oil and gas company OMV is financially
invested in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But Germany is against this pipeline
and is bothered by the Kurz-government‘s obstinacy in this matter. Also,
Austria’s secret service has been cut off internationally from the West for a
few months already, because it’s seen as an open door for Putin’s secret
agencies.
Additionally, the ÖVP is still
a stable bourgeois party that can be “improved” in the interests of European
(German) capital without plunging Austria in a deep political crisis. At the
same time, the Austrian Social Democracy is dutifully ready to solve any crisis
in the name of “stability” and “reason”. In Italy, Hungary, Romania and Poland
there is no such option for the capitalists – in all of these countries,
capitalists have to govern with and through the so-called populists. Great
Britain has already been lost. President of the EU-commission, Juncker, said it
was one of his biggest mistakes not to have intervened in the Brexit-debacle
more decisively. Apparently, the elite has learned from the British chaos and
now acts more proactively.
Then there is the specific
political culture in Austria that always oscillates between fantasies of
grandeur and an inferiority complex particularly toward our German neighbours.
Sebastian Kurz tried over the recent years to step on Angela Merkel's toes when
speaking in talk shows or Bavarian conservative party meetings. The German
government repeatedly let their irritations known and told him to stop these
games. International pressure played an important part in Kurz‘s decision to
call for re-elections after the revelation of the Ibiza-Tape.
Lastly, we shouldn’t forget
about the role of the individual. One doesn’t have to be an expert to realise
that Strache & Co are entirely open to the influence of money, power and
seduction (the video shows Strache repeatedly commenting on the fake Russian
oligarch: “Damn she’s hot.”) When Strache started to suspect a trap (because
the toenails of the oligarch-actress weren’t manicured, befitting a rich lady),
his polit-groupie Gudenus assured him: “This isn’t a trap.” Strache thus
continued to spill stories – a perfect victim to the plot.
Kurz‘s strategy: flight
forward
We are told that Kurz had a
warning before everyone else found out about the video in the news. His first
idea was to continue the coalition government, while changing some ministers.
However, the Freedom Party refused to sacrifice their theoretical head and
Minister of the Interior, Herbert Kickl. Him leaving would likely have split
the party, although it would have been the preferred solution for the
bourgeoisie. The Federation of Austrian Industries had already publicly
approved this procedure. It would have been an easy game for Kurz, who could’ve
basically governed as a single-party administration.
But as this coup was denied by
the FPÖ, Kurz started to work on his re-election speech. He presented himself
as a long-suffering victim of the countless “isolated cases” of racist and
fascist clangers by the FPÖ. But to continue the amazing success story of his
political line (i.e. attacks on the workers), he said he would now choose the
path of re-elections. In the same speech, he appealed to the voters to increase
their support for him. He said he couldn’t govern with “today’s” Freedom Party,
not with the Social Democracy with their “different political approach” and not
with other parties (such as the neoliberal NEOS), because they are too small.
At the same time, he talked about protection from migration, upcoming tax
decreases and used coded anti-semitic language while attacking the Social
Democrats.
Kurz is in the course of
re-organising the bourgeois block. His plan is to increase his votes and
arrange for some majority provider such as the neoliberal outfit NEOS and to
continue his onslaught against workers’ rights and the welfare state.
Social Democrats could sink
Kurz
An serious opposition could
now expose all the manifest contradictions within the government and the state
apparatus and massively weaken both major bourgeois parties – the FPÖ as well
as the ÖVP. For this, they should direct the public debate towards the obvious
hypocrisy of both.
But even this purely
democratic question is too much for the SPÖ-leadership. They didn’t demand
re-elections but waited for hours and hours until Kurz did it himself first.
Their accusations were purely directed towards the FPÖ and even then, they
didn’t attack them with political arguments but by simply reporting them to the
Department for Prosecution of Economy and Corruption – the very same department
that indicted its own head to for corruption in the interest of the
conservative party only this week!
While tens of thousands of
people celebrated and demonstrated on the streets after the demise of Strache,
the SPÖ leadership didn’t manage to connect to this mood to finish off this
anti-working-class government. They only hope is to be incorporated into a future
government come the next elections. This is in line with their general
orientation towards “social partnership” and the state apparatus. Even after
Kurz declined any cooperation with the SP in his re-election speech, the SP
party chairwoman Pamela Rendi-Wagner stubbornly stuck to this idea.
If this continues, Strache’s
fall will turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. It will result only in
strengthening Kurz and the neoliberal NEOS party and also the stabilisation of
the Freedom Party. The orientation of the SP-leadership directly prepares for a
second Kurz government, and as such, a government of cuts and of slashing
social and democratic rights. The liberal indignation will die away and the
working class will be defenceless in the face of the reorganised bourgeois
bloc.
But this is not inevitable.
The ongoing political conflict is a struggle between bourgeois factions,
re-organising their power amongst themselves. What we need is an offensive of
the working class on the basis of social issues and class struggle, instead of
participating in the corrupt capitalist state apparatus. The re-elections will
only change the status quo if a new programme can be pushed through within the
workers’ movement. This is only possible by openly opposing the SP-leadership.
Democratic control and
expropriation are in order!
It is thus the task of the
Left to use this crisis of the bourgeois to launch an offensive struggle with
the correct orientation. This way, we can weaken capitalism and its exercise of
power via the state. Within the first few hours of the government’s crisis, we
saw that the Socialist Youth (SJ) would be in a position to do just that. The
SJ, together with other SP-youth organisations, called for a demonstration in
front of the Chancellor’s Office and 10,000 people followed this spontaneous
call. The SJ leader, Julia Herr, received rapturous applause. Her speech made
the following points:
“No to a government that can
be bought! No to both ÖVP and FPÖ! The rich give you money and you deliver.
Your donors wanted the 12-hour working day, you are implementing it! Your
donors wanted to smash the health insurance so that private insurance companies
can make profits. You delivered. Your donors wanted low taxes on profits, you
deliver and want to lower the tax!”
This is, in the abstract, a
correct position. But what does it mean, concretely, to fight against a
government that can be bought? It is not enough to say the right things, now is
the time to start as big a campaign as possible to fight against the status
quo.
The first task is to openly
argue for the overthrow of the government. In the current situation, this can
even be done via the parliament. The Freedom Party hinted that they might
support a vote of no confidence against Kurz, because all of their ministers were
forced to resign. Such a vote of no confidence was announced – not by the SP
but by a Green-Party split called “Jetzt!” (Now!). Will the SP support this
vote? Only if they are forced to by events. The SJ head, Herr, has a
responsibility to take concrete steps in the struggle against the
ÖVP/FPÖ-government, for which she and the SJ stand. She should demand the
following: overthrow Kurz by supporting the vote of no confidence.
With this, Kurz would be the
shortest-serving Chancellor in the history of Austria, and this is exactly what
we want.
This could serve as a 180°
turn on and environmental issues, and could overcome the divisive ideology of
racism. Take back all the counter-reforms!
Get rid of the
12-hour-working-day.
Full control of social and
health insurance by the insured instead of representatives of the capitalists.
Take back the cuts in the
basic income for the poor and ill.
Against racist division of the
working class and against the strengthening of repression: take back the
headscarf ban in kindergartens, the mounted police unit and the use of
hollow-point bullets.
It is now necessary to
concretely test the opposition parties, including the SP, in their reaction to
these demands. The trade union leaders have now a historic chance to make good
on their promise of last year by starting a massive campaign to reintroduce the
8-hour-working-day. The fact that the metal industry boss Collini already
announced that he wanted to cancel the collective bargaining round this autumn
is enough reason to go into a strong offensive. This can and should be demanded
by trade union members, shop stewards and trade union officials.
For a socialist programme!
How can we ensure that a
future left government will not be bought by the capitalists? After all, laws
for party finance transparency and anti-corruption laws obviously don’t work.
Democratic control is only
possible if the financial practices of the capitalists are mercilessly opened
up to the public. Open the books! The capitalists called out in the Ibiza-Tape
are only the tip of the iceberg. We know how big capital, such as the
Raiffeisen bank & Co., have the politicians in their pockets. We don’t
trust the “judiciary”, who cover the powerful and only go after the corrupt,
drunken smallfry. We want shop stewards, trade unions and activists not only to
get access to the books and insight into the capitalists’ power plays, we also
want to report this to the public. We want to know for sure who the buyers of
political power and policies are – and we argue for their full expropriation
without compensation under workers’ control and the public.
Down with the bourgeois block!
For a mass campaign to take
back all the cuts!
Open the capitalists’ books!
For expropriation without
compensation of all corporations and capitalists that bought policies!
No waiting for an election –
fight now!
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