Hartwig Löger
Hartwig Löger is an Austrian politician and former business executive. From 2011 to 2017 he was chief executive officer of UNIQA Austria and since 2017 he serves as Minister of Finance. Löger was graduated in 1983 at the Stiftsgymnasium Admont. Striving for a career as pilot, Löger started an Offiziersanwärterausbildung at the Bundesheer and made the pilots entrance exam there; because of an knee injury Löger randomly ended up in the insurance branch. 1987/88 he started visiting a course for insurance economy at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and from 1999 to 2001 he completed an international management course at the University of St. Gallen. From 1985 to 1989 Löger worked as a customer adviser for an insurance agent. Subsequently, he started working for Allianz until 1996 as sales manager for the region Styria as assistant to the management at the Grazer Wechselseitige and until 2002 as sales manager at the Donau Versicherung AG. From 2002 to 2017 he worked for the UNIQA Insurance Group, first as managing director of the UNIQA International Versicherungs-Holding GmbH and until 2011, as head of the exclusive sales department.
In 2011 he became a senior corporate officer at UNIQA and the chief executive officer of UNIQA Austria. In December 2017 he was succeeded as CEO by Kurt Svoboda. From 2014 to February 2018 Löger served as president of the Sports Union. Since 2011 he has been a member of the Vienna state institutions of the People's Party Business Union. Since 18 December 2017 Löger has been serving as Minister of Finance in the coalition government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, he was nominated by the People's Party for this position. Alongside Gernot Blümel, Günther Helm und Wolfgang Leitner, Löger has been serving as member of the nominating committee of the Industrieholding since January 2018; the committee decides, sent to the supervisory board of companies with state share participation. European Investment Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors European Stability Mechanism, Member of the Board of Governors Asian Development Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors Inter-American Investment Corporation, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, World Bank Group, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors World Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors Kunsthistorisches Museum, President of the Circle of Friends KURIER Aid Austria, Vice President Verband der Versicherungsunternehmen Österreichs, Vice President Löger is married, has two children and lives in Vienna in Austria.
Biography, contact details and speeches since 1996 of Hartwig Löger at the Parliament of Austria BMF: Minister of Finance Hartwig Löger Hartwig Löger on www.meineabgeordneten.at
Judiciary of Austria
The Judiciary of Austria is the branch of the Austrian government responsible for resolving disputes between residents or between residents and the government, holding criminals accountable, making sure that the legislative and executive branches remain faithful to the European and Austrian constitutions and to international human rights standards, upholding the rule of law. The judiciary is independent of the other two branches of government and is committed to guaranteeing fair trials and equality before the law, it has effective powers of judicial review. Structurally, the Austrian judiciary is divided into general courts of public law; the general courts handle civil and criminal trials as well as non-adversary proceedings such as inheritance cases or legal guardianship matters. The courts of public law supervise the other two branches of government: the administrative court system reviews the legality of administrative acts. In addition to the court system proper, the judicial arm of Austrian state power includes the state prosecution service, the prisons and the correctional officers' corps.
Remand prisons for pre-trial detention or other types of non-correctional custody belong to the executive branch. The judiciary is assisted by the Ministry of Justice, a cabinet-level division of the national executive; the administration of justice in Austria is the sole responsibility of the federal government. Judges and prosecutors are recruited and employed by the Republic. There is no such thing, for example, as an Austrian county court; the court system has two branches: general courts try criminal cases and civil cases. Judges are independent. Appointments are for life. In courts with more than one judge −, all of them − there has to be a fixed and specific apportionment of responsibilities to prevent the government from influencing outcomes by hand-picking a judge sympathetic to its perspective. For example, if a litigant files for divorce in a court with multiple judges handling divorce cases, the first letter of their last name decides which judge they are assigned. Judges presiding over trials are professionals.
In order to become eligible for appointment to a bench, a prospective judge needs to have a master's degree or equivalent in Austrian law, undergo four years of post-graduate training, pass an exam. The training includes theoretical instruction and internship-type practical work in an actual courthouse. Appointments to benches are made by the president, although the president can and does delegate most of this responsibility to the minister of justice. Nominations come from within the judiciary. There is no military justice in peacetime. Trials are public. Civil trials are adversarial trials; the court evaluates evidence brought before it by the parties to the trial but makes no attempt to uncover any additional evidence or otherwise investigate the matter itself. Criminal trials are inquisitorial trials; the court is involved, questioning witnesses brought forward by the parties to the trials, summoning expert witnesses on its own initiative, attempting to determine the truth. Most trials are bench trials, although the bench will be a panel including one or more lay judges.
Criminal defendants accused of political transgressions or of serious crimes with severe penalties have a right to trial by jury. Pursuant to the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted into the Austrian constitution, but to Austrian constitutional law preceding it, criminal defendants are protected by the set of procedural guarantees typical for modern liberal democracies. Among other things, defendants are presumed innocent; the right to an appeal is taken seriously. Any party to any trial before a general court can file an appeal on facts and law. If the case is a civil case, the appellate court first checks whether the trial court has committed procedural errors. If no, or if the case is criminal, the appellate court conducts what is a retrial itself − the appellate trial does not review questions of law but questions of fact, assessing evidence
Vice-Chancellor of Austria
The Vice-Chancellor of Austria is a member of the Federal Government and the deputy of the Chancellor. The current Vice Chancellor of Austria is Heinz-Christian Strache, in office since 2017. Art. 69 of the Constitution of Austria states: The Vice-Chancellor stands in for the Federal Chancellor in his complete field of functions. If both Federal Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are hindered, the Federal President appoints a member of the government to represent the Federal Chancellor. In practice, the Vice-Chancellor is the leading member of the junior party within the current coalition government the party chairman. If only one party is represented in the government, the Vice Chancellor is the Chancellor's presumed successor. Austria annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Independence restored in 1945. Chancellor of Austria
Next Austrian legislative election
The next Austrian legislative election will be held no than 6 November 2022, will elect the 27th National Council. The 2017 legislative election was called four years into a grand coalition between the Social Democratic Party of Austria and Austrian People's Party, prompted by the demand of newly elected ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz for a snap election. Though the SPÖ won 52 seats, as it did in the 2013 election, the ÖVP and FPÖ made large gains, increasing by 15 seats to 62 and 11 seats to 51 making the prior the largest party at the federal level. NEOS gained a single seat, the Peter Pilz List entered the National Council with 8 seats, the Greens fell short of the 4% threshold and lost all 24 seats. Following the election, President Alexander Van der Bellen asked Kurz to form the next government, the ÖVP initiated exploratory talks with the other parties in the National Council; the ÖVP started coalition negotiations with the FPÖ on 25 October, agreeing on a five-point roadmap. Negotiations drew towards a close in late November, the parties announced a coalition agreement on 15 December, with the coalition government led by Kurz sworn in on 18 December.
On 4 November 2017, Peter Pilz announced that he would not take his seat after accusations of sexual harassment. On 11 June 2018, Pilz returned to the National Council and was sworn in after accusations of sexual harassment were dropped by the state prosecution, his return was made possible by the resignation of another member of the National Council, Peter Kolba, who stepped down after significant disputes within the List Pilz. The swearing-in ceremony of Pilz was met with heavy resistance, because all female representatives walked out of the parliament room as he was about to be sworn in. On 7 May 2018, Matthias Strolz announced that he will step down as leader of NEOS and hand over the party leadership in June, citing personal reasons and a successful period for the party since creation in 2012 with steady electoral gains during his term. On 23 June 2018, party delegates elected Beate Meinl-Reisinger as the new leader of NEOS during a meeting in Vienna. On 20 August 2018, Maria Stern was elected new party leader of the List Pilz during a party meeting in Vienna.
During the meeting, members agreed to rename the list. A PR agency has been hired to work out the future name, which will be presented in "a few months". On 19 November 2018, the List Pilz presented their new name: "JETZT". On 18 September 2018, opposition leader Christian Kern announced that he would resign as leader of the Austrian Social Democrats to run as lead candidate for the European Parliament in 2019. On 22 September 2018, former Minister of Health Pamela Rendi-Wagner was designated as the new chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party, she will become the new party leader after a delegate vote at a 24-25 November party convention. She will become the first female leader of the SPÖ; the 183 members of the National Council are elected by open list proportional representation at the level of one federal constituency consisting of all of Austria, 9 state constituencies, 39 regional constituencies. The number of seats elected by each constituency is determined in accordance with the results of the most recent census.
Seats are allocated in a three-stage process, from regional constituencies to state constituencies to the federal constituency. For parties to receive seats in the National Council, they must either win a seat in at least one constituency or clear a 4 percent national electoral threshold. Seats are distributed according to the Hare method in the first two stages, at the level of regional and state constituencies, with the remaining constituencies allocated using the D'Hondt method at the federal level to ensure proportionality with the election result. In addition to voting for a national party list, voters have the option of casting three preferential votes capable of changing the order of precedence for candidates on a party list: one each at the federal and regional level; the threshold to increase the position of a candidate on a federal party list is 7 percent, compared to 10 percent at the state level and 14 percent at the regional level. Preferential votes for candidates on regional party lists may be indicated by marking the given spot on the ballot, whereas the name or ranking number must be provided for preferential votes for party list candidates on the state and federal level.
Per Article 26 and 27 of the Federal Constitutional Law, the National Council must be convened by the President no than 30 days after the most recent election. The standard duration of the legislative period of the National Council is five years, by the end of which it must be renewed through an election on a Sunday or a public holiday; because the inaugural meeting of the 26th National Council took place on 9 November 2017, as determined by President Alexander Van der Bellen, the latest date on which the next legislative election can be held is 6 November 2022. The table below lists parties represented in the 26th National Council. Comprehensive results of the 2017 legislative election
President of the National Council (Austria)
The President of the National Council is the presiding officer of the National Council, the first chamber of the Austrian Parliament. Since December 2017 Wolfgang Sobotka has served as the current President of the National Council, Doris Bures as the Second President and Anneliese Kitzmüller as the Third. All three Presidents together form the Presidium of the National Council. In the Austrian order of precedence the President of the National Council places after the President and before the Chancellor; the President, the second and the third President are elected by the majority of the National Council at the beginning of each legislative session. The Presidium remains active after the dissolution of the National Council, until the Council obtains its new elected leadership; this applies if the President of the former legislative session has no mandate in the new session. In the second republic it became a political practice, that the most powerful party receives the President and the second and third most powerful party the second and third president.
The exact tasks of the President and his deputies are determined in the Nationalratsgeschäftsordnung. He is in charge of the administrative affairs of the National Council and creates a budget concept for the Council with the second and third President; the President is the representative of national council for the public and has to ensure moderation and balanced rights. He handles the Geschäftsordnung and has to guarantee for its observance, he exercises the Hausrecht in the Austrian Parliament Building and heads the parliamentary directorate; the three Presidents and the parliamentary leaders together form the Präsidialkonferenz, a communicative organisation responsible for amiable cooperation under the parties within the Council. The Presidium assumes the tasks of the Federal President in case of a longer during prevention or permanent suspension, for example because of death, a resignation or a deposition; this should ensure that overseeing tasks towards other duties are not lost. National Assembly First Austrian Republic Second Republic First Austrian Republic Second Republic First Austrian Republic Second Republic Politics of Austria
Pamela Rendi-Wagner
Pamela Rendi-Wagner is an Austrian physician and politician serving as the chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party since November 2018. She is the first woman to lead the SPÖ. From March 2017 to December 2017 Rendi-Wagner was Minister of Women. Since November 2017 she is a member of the National Council and since October 2018 she is the parliamentary leader of her party there. Rendi-Wagner grew up in Vienna's 10th district Favoriten as the daughter of a young single mother, she attended the GRG 12 Erlgasse in Meidling and graduated in 1989. She studied medicine at the University of Vienna and received her doctorate in 1996. Subsequently, she studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she graduated in 1996/97 and received a master's degree in "Infection and Health". In 1997 she obtained the "Diploma of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine", the Master of Science at the Royal College of Physicians. In 1998 Wagner returned to the University of Vienna and worked between 1998 and 2002 in the Department of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine.
As project leader, Rendi-Wagner has established a network for epidemiological surveillance of important infectious diseases. As part of her research, the recommended interval for tick vaccinations has been raised from three to five years. In 2008, she was awarded the qualification of university lecturer in the fields of specific prophylaxis and tropical medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. Subsequently, she worked internationally as a scientist in the fields of infection epidemiology, vaccine prevention and travel medicine. Between 2008 and 2011 Wagner was a guest professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel. Between 2012 and 2017 she worked as a guest professor at the Center for Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna. From 2011 to 2017, Rendi-Wagner took over Section III in the Ministry of Health and was chairwoman of the Office for Safety in Health Care and a member of the Health Commission. In 2012, Rendi-Wagner joined the Association of Social Democratic University Graduates, an organization affiliated with the SPÖ.
In succession of deceased Sabine Oberhauser and interim head of the ministry Alois Stöger, she was appointed Minister of Health and Women on 8 March 2017 by President Van der Bellen, serving in the government of Chancellor Christian Kern. Only shortly before her inauguration, she became a member of the SPÖ. With the change of government after the National Council elections in 2017, she dropped out of the government on 18 December 2017, she didn't make use of her right to return as an official to the Ministry of Health. Since she has been a Member of the National Council and is her party's spokeswoman for health. After Kern announced to stand as the SPÖ's leading candidate for the European elections in May 2019 and to resign as party chairman in November 2018, the party executive board designated Rendi-Wagner as Kern's successor on 22 September 2018. At a convention on 24 November, she was elected the first woman to head the SPÖ in the party's history. Rendi-Wagner's mother was her father a social psychologist.
She has four half-brothers. Pamela Rendi-Wagner is married to the former Austrian ambassador to Israel and cabinet chief of former Chancellery minister Thomas Drozda, Michael Rendi, has two daughters with him
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