Herwig van Staa

Herwig van Staa ( born June 10, 1942 in Linz, Upper Austria ) is an Austrian politician ( ÖVP). He is President of the Parliament of the Austrian state of Tyrol and was between 2002 and 2008 Tyrolean provincial governor.

Education and work

After primary school in Bad Leonfelden and graduating from high school in Wels 1960 he studied at the University of Innsbruck, the subjects of law, economics and social sciences, ethnology and sociology (doctorate, Dr. phil., And equality with Mag. Soc. Oec. ). From 1971, he was Managing Partner in a room and Social Research Institute, from 1974 assistant and since 1980 director of the Research Institute for Alpine Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Innsbruck. He became assistant professor in 1989; with the acquisition of the Mayor's Office was one unpaid leave without pay.

Herwig van Staa since 1974 with Luise, born Wallnoefer, daughter of the Governor Eduard Wallnoefer, married and has two children.

As a student, he joined the K.Ö.St.V. Traungau at Wels in MKV. During his studies he became a member of K.Ö.HV Leopoldina Innsbruck in the ACA. The mid-nineties ( year? ) Him the ACA Ring of Honor was awarded. He is (2012 ) Member of 28 Christian fraternities in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Political activity

From 1989 to 2005 van Staa was a member of the Municipal Council of the City of Innsbruck. Due to repeated criticism of the tour he was excluded from the council club. In the local elections of 1994, he joined - although unchanged Member of the Tyrolean People's Party - with its own list " for Innsbruck ", which was the second strongest faction. From 1994, he held the office of Mayor of the City and was re- elected in 2000. On 27 October 2001 Herwig van Staa was elected state party chairman of the Tyrolean People's Party.

On 26 October 2002, he was elected to succeed Wendelin Weingartner to the Governor by the Tyrolean Landtag. Hilde Zach followed him as mayor of Innsbruck. Van Staa was confirmed in the regional elections in 2003 in his office.

Herwig van Staa was in his time rehabilitate the city finances as Innsbruck's mayor and thus reduce the mountain of debt. He also laid the foundation stone for the new building of the town hall, the station, the ski jump, the football stadium and the redevelopment of the old Olympic sports facilities. Van Staa does not see himself in the tradition of bündisch People's Party. He locates his own political principles as in the Christian social doctrine founded.

Although the ÖVP fell back at the Tyrolean Landtag elections of 8 June 2008 to 40.45 % (2003: 49.89 %), his party thanked him for the trust and entrusted him with the leadership of the coalition negotiations. Van Staa had repeatedly stated before the election that he would only resign if the ÖVP fell below 40 percent. After completion of the coalition negotiations and signature of the coalition agreement with the Tyrolean SPÖ on 23 June 2008, he declared the same day his resignation as governor. His successor on July 1, 2008, the former Interior Minister Günther Platter, who was considered as a compromise candidate of the People's Party Frets Farmers' Federation and ÖAAB. Van Staa himself was elected on the same day to the Landtag president.

Since 2002, van Staa member of the Committee of the Regions since 2004 Vice- President of the Committee of the Regions and Head of the Austrian CoR delegation.

In May 2002, van Staa was elected for two years as President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, before, he had already been from 1996 to 1998 Vice- President of the Chamber of Local Authorities and from 1998 to 2002, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities.

On 5 November 2008 Herwig van Staa of the 12th General Assembly of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies ( CALRE) was elected President for the term 2008/2009.

In October 2010, van Staa was elected for two years as president of the regional chamber in the Euro Europe. Since October 2012, he is again for a further term of two years, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe in Euro.

Van Staa laid by the Innsbruck municipal elections in 2012 its Honorary Chairman shaft at " For Innsbruck " back and put his membership dormant since Mayor Christine Oppitz - Plörer has a " traffic light coalition " to the exclusion of the city - ÖVP formed.

After the parliamentary elections on April 28, 2013 were (2 abstentions) re-elected Parliament President Herwig van Staa in the inaugural meeting of the Tyrolean Landtag on May 24, 2013 29 votes to 5.

Criticism

Because of its support for river and reservoir power plant construction of the Tyrolean provincial power utility TIWAG was criticized we all have in common ( TIWAG ) van Staa of the initiative Tyrolean initiative.

2004 has van Staa before, to accommodate offenders asylum seekers and those who do not announce their identity in specific neighborhoods, which made for criticism. In February 2007, van Staa called again convicted Asylum seekers who could not be deported and their detention could not be extended or do not wish to reveal their identity, " intern ", so to imprison indefinitely. This proposal was devoid of the Tyrolean Greens and the green human rights spokeswoman Terezija Stoisits than any factual and constitutional basis and criticized by Deputy Governor Hannes Gschwentner. Was supported van Staas proposal of ÖVP General Secretary Hannes Missethon.

The conference organized by the city of Innsbruck birthday celebrations for former Gestapo officials, former deputy Innsbruck's mayor and honorary citizen of the city of Innsbruck, Ferdinand Up Feldner ( SPÖ), made ​​for withdrawal demands of the Simon Wiesenthal Center to various politicians, including van Staa. The governor has been criticized even by the Israeli historian Efraim Zuroff. Top Feldner had in 1938 carried out as part of the November Pogrom in Innsbruck arrest. In a letter to the Simon Wiesenthal Center van Staa explained above fields have been heavily involved in decades of activity in the social field and never denied some of his biography. In addition, no one has made ​​the claim, the top fields have to be in the Nazi era are guilty of something. He, van Staa, had always clearly distanced himself from Nazism and condemn and abhor the atrocious crimes that time.

Expressed also in March 2007, van Staa, he had heard rumors, according to which the father of the Green Party spokesman Alexander Van der Bellen had reached 1944 unexplained circumstances with his family from Estonia to Austria, and said that this could only tolerated by the regime or be under the protection set high moved Nazis have been possible. The Third National President Eva Glawischnig - Piesczek spoke then of a dirty campaign. In an interview with the daily Tiroler Tageszeitung van Staa denied to have van der Bellen called father as " high-ranking Nazi", and noted his comments were certainly exaggerated. In a press release van Staa presented again clear that he never wanted to move to the vicinity of Nazi ideology with its expressions Alexander van der Bellen and his family. As a result, van Staa wrote a personal letter to van der Bellen and asked him free to publish it at any time. However, Van der Bellen, this letter would not comment.

Six months later, van Staa was accused of Sölden publicists and TIWAG activists Markus Wilhelm to have the former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer called in a speech on the occasion of an anniversary of the German Alpine Club as a " pig". A replay of van Staas statements published by William, who did not participate in this event itself, on the TIWAG site. Representatives of the Tyrolean People's Party spoke of a " manipulated Band" which had been slowed down and extended to distort the meaning. They showed William to because of falsification of evidence. Van Staa did not " hog ", but " silence " said. One of a court-appointed expert for the office created for Internal Affairs report came under news magazine profil to the conclusion that van Staa " pig" and told the word had not been cut out of " silence ". Other experts have confirmed in the result that " the pig " was heard on the tape. In October 2010, William was acquitted of defamation suspicion in the last instance.

Honors and Awards

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