Former Austrian PM quits politics amid graft scandal

EurActiv reported that former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel announced on the 5 September 2011 that he was quitting parliament amid a widening corruption scandal centred on Telekom Austria. Schüssel himself was not linked to the cases.

Three former members of the coalition between Schüssel’s People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Freedom Party (ÖVP) – ex-ÖVP Interior Minister Ernst Strasser, former FPÖ Traffic Minister Hubert Gorbach and former FPÖ Infrastructure Minister Mathias Reichhold – are accused of receiving millions of Euros by TA decision-makers or lobbyists cooperating with the company.

• Primary Source

Falter, 6.10.11: The country of 35 scandals (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu//en/content/news-brief-cover/1028561-country-35-scandals

Spiegel Online International, 13.10.11: A Web of Sleaze in Elegant Vienna http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,791113,00.html

ESO: Background information: Jörg Haider's Legacy. Corruption Scandals Shake Faith in Austrian Democracy http://www.europeansources.info/record/jorg-haiders-legacy-corruption-scandals-shake-faith-in-austrian-democracy/

Deutsche Welle, 5.9.11: Former Austrian chancellor resigns amid corruption scandal http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15365554,00.html

Wikipedia: Wolfgang Schüssel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Sch%C3%BCssel

Austrian Independent, 5.9.11: Schüssel quits over TA scandal http://austrianindependent.com/news/Politics/2011-09-05/8901/Sch%FCssel_quits_over_TA_scandal

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