The Ibiza video, which led to a political earthquake in Austria three years ago, is a “caricature of what you didn’t think was possible,” says political advisor Thomas Hofer in Newsroom LIVE. The video showed what was “in the wrong” in Austrian politics.
Post-processing “not yet completed”
In an interview with PULS 24 anchor Thomas Mohr, he criticized that there was only a rudimentary learning effect from this scandal in the country. There were omissions here, especially in the transitional government. “There was a window open” to pass a transparency law, says Hofer.
Mr. Strache goes to Ibiza – Back to the end
The political consultant draws what he calls a “cute comparison” and draws parallels between the scandal surrounding the Ibiza video and the wine scandal from the 1980s. In the so-called glycol wine scandal, winegrowers adulterated their wines. “The toughest laws” resulted from the scandal, which meant that Austria “became a respected country in this area,” says Hofer. “We’re not there yet,” he emphasizes in an interview.
Video impacted real politics
Nevertheless, the video “structurally changed a lot”. The result was a series of high-ranking resignations, including ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP). “Some actors are gone, even if they weren’t involved in Ibiza,” Hofer comments. However, he does not consider it likely that there will be another realignment in connection with Ibiza in the near future.
Even without the video, there was “a certain distrust” in the turquoise-blue government. The FPÖ and the ÖVP were fighting for the same groups of voters at the time, explains the political advisor in Newsroom LIVE. “One plan: We’ll march through it – it didn’t exist,” says Hofer. Nevertheless, he does not rule out a new edition of Turquoise Blue, if only through a different lineup of the FPÖ.
–
