Margit Kraker

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Margit Kraker (born November 9, 1960 in Zeltweg ) is an Austrian lawyer . From 2013 to 2016 she was director of the Styrian State Audit Office and has been President of the Austrian Audit Office for a twelve-year term since July 1, 2016 .

Life

Kraker is a lawyer, she did her doctorate in 1983. She began her career - after the court year - as an assistant at the Institute for Public Law, Political Science and Administrative Studies at the University of Graz , after which she was a parliamentary lawyer in Vienna for nine years. From 1996 she was the official head of the ÖVP state parliament club. From 2000 to 2013 she headed the office of the Styrian Provincial Council and later Provincial Governor Deputy Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP). During her time in the Schützenhöfer office, she was also Deputy Director of the State Office . From 2013 she was director of the Styrian State Audit Office . The direct change from a management position in the Styrian state government in its control committee led to distrust and dissenting votes from the Greens and the KPÖ .

President of the Austrian Court of Auditors

She was nominated on June 9, 2016 with the votes of the ÖVP and SPÖ by the main committee of the National Council as President of the Court of Auditors to succeed Josef Moser . This sparked a storm of outrage on the part of the opposition, the NEOS spoke of "lousy packing", the then Green leader Eva Glawischnig was very irritated, the Stronach team pointed out: "The optics are not good.", And Heinz- Christian Strache from the FPÖ suspected a deal in connection with the upcoming election of the ORF general director in August 2016. On the other hand, praise came from her former boss, today's Styrian Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP), who characterized Kraker as "best qualified for this great task". At the public hearing the day before, among the eight candidates, "in the opinion of the vast majority of observers, Gerhard Steger had shown the best performance". Steger, who was nominated by the SPÖ and Team Stronach (TS) and at the time head of the ACA, convinced Greens and NEOS to such an extent that they did not vote for their own candidates at the first vote in the main committee, but for Steger. The press was also extremely critical of Kraker's nomination. On June 16, 2016, Kraker was elected by the National Council as the first woman to head the Court of Auditors for a twelve-year term. She put her ÖVP membership on hold and announced that she wanted to exercise her office independently and objectively, free from party politics. The opposition again criticized the fact that their election came about.

After almost two years in office, the Falter declared her the “hero of the week” in January 2018, because after the election she found herself in the role of the non-partisan supervisory authority in the audit office with the “democratic-political birth defect”. Kraker himself could imagine a new order mode for the presidency of the Court of Auditors in the future: with a two-thirds majority , the opposition would also be involved, as stated in the ZIB2 interview on October 10, 2016 with Armin Wolf . In the course of a press conference in July 2017, citizens were invited to submit their suggestions for exams on Facebook . In October 2017 , the Court of Auditors submitted ten reform proposals to the next government under the title "What must be done now" . Kraker called for a joint strategy from the federal, state and local governments to resolve the "reform backlog" that has arisen since joining the EU .

Since her election, Kraker has repeatedly criticized the work of the government and commented on reform projects. The proposal to introduce fixed legislative periods to make new elections more difficult also received criticism from the members of the National Council . In an interview with the Standard, she made her predecessor Josef Moser responsible, who had announced that he would clear out old laws on a large scale: “This is a legal adjustment, but it does not replace a reform. If those laws that have never been applied fall away, there will be no less bureaucracy. It's just a formal approach and I'm also afraid of an employment project for the ministries. ”In addition, the government is devoting itself to many trivial issues, real reform issues are not included, Kraker said in the Upper Austrian News .

In the ORF broadcast “Report” on May 22, 2018, Kraker was “very skeptical” that the government will achieve the announced savings of one billion in the reform of health insurance . She pointed out that the administrative burden across health insurance is $ 750 million. The government's figures are therefore "difficult to believe" and cost estimates are "often wishful thinking". Both the FPÖ and ÖVP then criticized the President of the Court of Auditors. FPÖ club chairman Walter Rosenkranz rated their "multiple daily political interference" as "dispensable". Also ÖVP Economy Minister Margaret Schramböck therefore criticized Kraker: "It will not do to advance even to give criticism and to question before we go into implementation." In a press release defending SPÖ turn the actions of the Court President. In her function as president of the state auditing body, Kraker is very well entitled to point out inconsistencies in political projects, according to SPÖ Federal Managing Director Max Lercher .

With its legal assessment of the social security reform, the "Social Security Organization Act", the audit office caused a stir in October 2018. In this context, Kraker called on the government to end the "numbers game".

The Austrian daily Kurier portrayed the President of the Court of Auditors in connection with the critical assessment of the law. The article praises Cracker's "amazingly independent" behavior. It goes on to say: "When she appears, however, she speaks clearly and not in a confused manner". Hans Rauscher , journalist for the Austrian daily newspaper "Der Standard", described Kraker in a comment as the sober de facto reviewer of the turquoise-blue (especially the turquoise) propaganda machine.

Kraker was invited to the second ZiB 2 on Sunday, an ORF broadcast with Martin Thür as the main presenter. In this television interview, the President of the Court of Auditors spoke out in favor of abolishing the automatic increase in funding for political parties in Austria.

The so-called Ibiza affair , in which the former FPÖ chairman and later Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache signaled his willingness to circumvent the laws on party financing "bypassing the Court of Auditors", triggered a debate on party financing. Kraker finally presented a five-point program for "real control of party finances", in which they demanded full auditing rights for the Court of Auditors with the parties and higher penalties for violations of the party law. The SPÖ, FPÖ and the list now decided on 3 July in parliament to reform party donations without strengthening the audit rights for the audit office.

During the Corona crisis, the Linz market Institute carried out an online survey with 1,000 Austrians on May 4th and 5th, 2020. In the trust ranking, the Austrian health system was at the top with 68 percent approval. With 57 percent, the audit office was in the upper field, ahead of the authorities, the medical association and parliament.

Private

Kraker is a second married man and has two grown sons.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Der Standard : SPÖ and ÖVP nominate Margit Kraker as President of the Court of Auditors , June 9, 2016, 11:23 am
  2. ↑ a b Kleine Zeitung (Graz): A portrait of the new Head of the Audit Office , June 9, 2016, 3:12 p.m.
  3. ↑ a b Die Presse : Kraker to be the new President of the Court of Auditors , June 9, 2016, 1:11 pm
  4. ↑ a b c ORF : Margit Kraker is the new head of the Court of Auditors , June 9, 2016
  5. ^ Tiroler Tageszeitung : Opposition outraged: ÖVP candidate Kraker becomes RH president , June 9, 2016 10:34 a.m.
  6. ^ ORF : Opposition outraged , June 9, 2016
  7. ^ ORF : Opposition suspects deal , June 9, 2016
  8. ↑ Maria Kern: What a farce! , Comment in Kurier (Vienna), June 9, 2016.
  9. ↑ Michael Völker : Court of Auditors election: Against each other in the coalition , Der Standard (Vienna), June 9, 2016, 10:47 am
  10. ^ Kraker elected President of the Court of Auditors. In: DiePresse.com. June 16, 2016, accessed June 21, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Margit Kraker, President of the Court of Auditors, with clear announcements . ( Online [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  12. ^ ORF: President Kraker in the ZIB 2 Interview: "Say what is". Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  13. ↑ The Court of Auditors calls for audit proposals to be sent via Facebook - derStandard.at. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  14. ↑ What needs to be done now. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  15. ^ Sharp criticism from SPÖ MPs to the Court of Auditors and Kraker - derStandard.at. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  16. ↑ President of the Court of Auditors: "Only door sign policy is operated here" - derStandard.at. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Oberösterreichische Nachrichten: "The time is ripe for real reforms" . ( Online [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  18. ↑ WZ Online, APA: RH president doubts the savings volume . In: Austria Politics - News - Wiener Zeitung Online . ( Online [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  19. ^ FPÖ-Walter Rosenkranz: "Daily political interference of the RH president dispensable" . In: OTS.at . ( Online [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  20. ^ Social insurance: Government defends itself against RH criticism . ( Online [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  21. ↑ Lercher on the black and blue SV reform: "Hartinger-Klein must give a guarantee that performance will be brought to the highest level" . In: OTS.at . ( Online [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  22. ↑ Parliament: Social Insurance Organization Act. Retrieved November 22, 2018 .
  23. ^ Die Presse: Court of Auditors reprimands the government. Retrieved November 20, 2018 .
  24. ^ Courier: Kraker in the Court of Auditors: A Styrian surprise. Retrieved November 22, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Hans Rauscher: The Court of Auditors shows courage to face conflict. Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
  26. ^ Peter Münch: Jugend forsch. Retrieved February 27, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Kraker wants more control in promoting parties. Retrieved February 2, 2019 .
  28. ^ Wiener Zeitung: Court of Auditors wants to strictly control party donations. Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Corona end? The Austrian health system enjoys outstanding trust. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  30. ↑ ORF at / Agencies red: According to the survey, only eight percent feel very threatened. May 7, 2020, accessed May 14, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Kraker, Margit
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Zeltweg