Austrian politician (born 1960)
Alfred Gusenbauer
(born 8 February 1960) is an Austrian politician who until 2008 spent his entire professional life as an employee of the
Social Democratic Party of Austria
(SPO) or as a parliamentary representative. He headed the SPO from 2000 to 2008, and served as
Chancellor of Austria
from January 2007 to December 2008. Since then, he has pursued a career as a consultant and lecturer, and as a member of supervisory boards of Austrian companies.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Gusenbauer was born in
Sankt Polten
in the state of
Lower Austria
on 8 February 1960.
[1]
He was educated at a high school in
Wieselburg
and studied political science, philosophy and jurisprudence at the
University of Vienna
, where he obtained a doctorate in political science in 1987.
[2]
Gusenbauer was federal leader of the
Socialist Youth Austria
(SJO) from 1984 to 1990; vice-president of the
International Union of Socialist Youth
(IUSY) from 1985 to 1989 and vice-president of the
Socialist International
in 1989. He was then made a senior research fellow in the economic policy department of the Lower Austria section of the
Chamber of Labour
from 1990 to 1999.
Chairman of the Social Democratic Party
[
edit
]
In 1991, Gusenbauer was elected SPO chairman in
Ybbs an der Donau
and a member of the Lower Austria party executive following the resignation of SPO chairman
Viktor Klima
.
[1]
In the same year he was elected to the
Bundesrat
(the upper house of the Austrian Parliament) as a deputy for Lower Austria. He was a member of the Austrian delegation to the parliamentary meeting of the
Council of Europe
in 1991 and was chairman of the social committee of the Council of Europe from 1995 to 1998.
In the Bundesrat, Gusenbauer was chairman of the Committee for Development Co-operation from 1996 to 1999. In 2000, he was elected leader of the SPO Group in the Bundesrat and also as secretary-general of the SPO. Under his leadership in the
2002 elections
the SPO improved its vote and gained four seats, but failed to defeat the
Austrian People's Party
(OVP) government of Chancellor
Wolfgang Schussel
. Gusenbauer had campaigned on a platform of more social spending and certain tax cuts.
[3]
During 2006, the SPO was handicapped by its involvement in the "
BAWAG scandal
" in which directors of the
BAWAG
, an Austrian bank owned by the
Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Osterreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, OGB), were accused of corruption, embezzlement and illicit speculation. The scandal led in March to the resignation of OGB head
Fritz Verzetnitsch
. The SPO as a party was not involved in the fraud but Gusenbauer found it politically expedient to exclude OGB leaders from the lists of SPO candidates, drawing criticism from the OGB.
[4]
[5]
Chancellor of Austria
[
edit
]
After the
2006 elections
, the SPO was the largest single party but had no absolute majority of the parliamentary seats. A
grand coalition
between the OVP and the SPO was considered the most likely outcome. After prolonged negotiations, Gusenbauer became chancellor on 11 January 2007 at the head of an SPO-OVP coalition.
In July 2007, Gusenbauer led the Austrian delegation to the
119th session
of the
International Olympic Committee
in
Guatemala City
to present the proposal for
Salzburg
as host of the
2014 Winter Olympics
; the proposal eventually lost against
Sochi
, whose bid was presented by
President
Vladimir V. Putin
of
Russia
.
[6]
Gusenbauer immediately drew criticism because he abandoned central promises of the SPO election campaign, such as those to abolish university tuition fees (it was decided by the SPO instead that students should do community service for 60 hours, which resulted in student protests) and to reverse the country's
Eurofighter
deal. This provoked public criticism even from SPO members. Infighting over Gusenbauer's ability to lead his party never subsided from this point onwards. On 16 June 2008, Gusenbauer was replaced as SPO chief by his minister of transport
Werner Faymann
. However, he formally remained chancellor until after the
2008 snap elections
that were called in early July 2008 when the
Austrian People's Party
(OVP), led by
Wilhelm Molterer
, left the governing coalition. His time in office was the shortest since World War II.
Post-politics career
[
edit
]
Gusenbauer briefly returned to his old post in the Chamber of Labour but immediately took on paid and unpaid positions in the private and non-profit sectors.
In 2009, Faymann prevented Gusenbauer's candidacy for the office of
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
by agreeing to the nomination of
Johannes Hahn
from his centre-right junior coalition partner OVP as Austria's
Member of the European Commission
.
[7]
[8]
Corporate boards
[
edit
]
Gusenbauer was made a member of the supervisory board of
Alpine Holding
, an Austrian construction conglomerate, in July 2009
[9]
and resigned from this position effective 1 May 2010, when it was announced that Gusenbauer was to head the supervisory board of
Strabag
(Austria's leading construction company) on 18 June 2010. At the same time he was to become chairman of the board of trustees of the private foundation established by Strabag's chairman,
Hans Peter Haselsteiner
.
[10]
In an article about Western leaders working for authoritarian regimes,
Associated Press
reported that Gusenbauer works as a consultant to Kazakh president
Nursultan Nazarbayev
.
[11]
In September 2013, he became an advisor to Serbian deputy prime minister and leader of the
Serbian Progressive Party
Aleksandar Vucic
.
[12]
In 2018, reports surfaced claiming that Gusenbauer had met with members of Congress in Washington as part of a 2013 lobbying campaign orchestrated by
Paul Manafort
on behalf of Ukrainian president
Viktor Yanukovych
.
[13]
Other positions include:
- Citigroup
, member of the European Advisory Board
- CUDOS Capital AG
, chairman of the supervisory board
[14]
- Equitas Capital
, member of the board and chairman of European Funds (since 2009)
[15]
- Gabriel Resources
, member of the board of directors (Member of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee)
[16]
- Haselsteiner
Familien-Privatstiftung
, chairman
- RHI AG
, member of the supervisory board (since 2013)
[17]
- Wartenfels Privatstiftung
, chairman of the board
- Gusenbauer is active in several business areas at
Signa Holding
, which was founded by Austrian real estate investor
Rene Benko
: On September 17, 2009, he became a member of the Supervisory Board of
SIGNA-RECAP Holding AG
.
[18]
As of 2018, he chairs the Supervisory Boards of
Signa Development Selection
,
Signa Prime Selection
and
Signa KidInvest
.
[19]
In December 2023 he started to announce resignations.
[20]
[21]
Non-profit organizations
[
edit
]
From 2009 to 2011, Gusenbauer was the first Leitner Global Fellow at the
Columbia University
School of International and Public Affairs in New York.
Other positions include:
- Austrian Society for China Studies (OGCF), president of the board of trustees
[22]
- Austrian-Spanish Chamber of Commerce, president
- Bonner Akademie fur Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik (BAPP), member of the board of trustees
[23]
- Club de Madrid
, Member
[24]
- Dr. Karl Renner Institute
, president
- Verein fur Geschichte der ArbeiterInnenbewegung, member of the board of trustees
[25]
Controversy
[
edit
]
In 1984, Gusenbauer, then leader of Austria's Young Socialists, caused controversy in Austria when he knelt and kissed the still-Communist tarmac at Moscow's
Domodedovo
airport ? in mockery of
Pope
John Paul II
.
[26]
Paradise Papers
[
edit
]
In November 2017, an investigation conducted by the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
cited his name in the
list of people and organisations named in the Paradise Papers
.
[27]
Manafort indictment
[
edit
]
The 16 February 2018 indictment of
Paul Manafort
unsealed on 23 February,
[28]
as part of the
Mueller special counsel investigation
, alleges that foreign politicians hypothesized to be Gusenbauer and
Romano Prodi
took payments exceeding $2 million from Manafort to promote the case of his client, then-president of Ukraine
Viktor Yanukovich
; both denied this and said their work was focused to get closer
European Union?Ukraine relations
.
[29]
[30]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Who's who in the Gusenbauer cabinet"
.
Wikileaks
. 23 January 2007
. Retrieved
16 October
2013
.
- ^
profil
28
(13 July 1987), p. 62
- ^
Paul Zielbauer (25 November 2002),
Austrians Re-elect Chancellor; Far-Right Party Is Set Back
The New York Times
.
- ^
European Election Monitor commentary
Archived
10 August 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
Robert Schuman
- ^
Next prime minister aims to preserve Austria's economy ? Europe ? International Herald Tribune
The New York Times
, 2 October 2006.
- ^
Race to Hold 2014 Games Heats Up as Decision Nears
The New York Times
, 1 July 2007.
- ^
Toby Vogel (19 November 2009),
Socialists united in choice of Ashton
European Voice
.
- ^
Busek: Spanien tritt "sehr massiv" fur Gusenbauer ein
Der Standard
, 8 November 2009.
- ^
Former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer joins ALPINE Board
Archived
7 April 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
FCC press release 29 July 2009
- ^
Gusenbauer to head Strabag supervisory board
Austrian Times
30 April 2010
Archived
- ^
"Focus on ex-Western leaders working for despots"
.
The Washington Post
. Associated Press. 4 March 2011.
- ^
Former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer to advise Serbian government
Archived
16 October 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
Intelli News
8 September 2013 Retrieved 16 October 2013
- ^
Theodoric Meyer and Josh Gerstein (24 February 2018),
Former Austrian chancellor appears to have lobbied as part of Manafort scheme
Politico Europe
.
- ^
Team
CUDOS Capital AG, Vienna.
- ^
Jonathan Tirone (5 November 2011),
Billionaire Graf Seeks Gamblers Abroad as Rules Pinch
Bloomberg News
.
- ^
Directors
Gabriel Resources
.
- ^
Resolutions proposed by the Supervisory Board for the 34th Annual General Meeting, 3 May 2013
RHI AG
.
- ^
Company Register extract 20091010 ad #251831s.
- ^
Andrea Hodoschek (7 November 2018).
"Faymann und Sigmar Gabriel starten gemeinsame Firma"
.
kurier.at
(in German)
. Retrieved
12 February
2024
.
- ^
Schutze, Arno (19 December 2023).
"Signa-Funktionar Gusenbauer tritt als Strabag-Aufsichtsratschef zuruck"
.
www.handelsblatt.com
. Retrieved
26 February
2024
.
- ^
ORF
(22 February 2024).
"Signa: Gusenbauer verlasst Aufsichtsrate"
.
news.ORF.at
(in German)
. Retrieved
26 February
2024
.
- ^
Board of Trustees
Austrian Society for China Studies (OGCF).
- ^
Board of Trustees
Bonner Akademie fur Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik (BAPP).
- ^
Gusenbauer, Alfred
Club de Madrid
- ^
Board of Trustees
Verein fur Geschichte der ArbeiterInnenbewegung, Vienna.
- ^
Edward Steen (10 October 2007),
Austrian successor
European Voice
.
- ^
"Explore The Politicians in the Paradise Papers"
.
ICIJ
. Retrieved
6 December
2017
.
- ^
"Former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort Indicted Yet Again"
.
HuffPost
. 23 February 2018
. Retrieved
26 July
2023
.
- ^
Erlanger, Steven; Horowitz, Jason (24 February 2018).
"European Ex-Officials Deny Being Paid by Manafort to Lobby for Ukraine"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
26 July
2023
.
On Saturday, Romano Prodi, a former prime minister of Italy, said in an interview that he and an ex-chancellor of Austria, Alfred Gusenbauer, had worked to try to bring Ukraine and the European Union closer together. But Mr. Prodi said the funds he had been paid by Mr. Gusenbauer did not come, to his knowledge, from Mr. Manafort. The compensation from Mr. Gusenbauer was a result of the 'normal private relations I had with him,' Mr. Prodi said, but 'not any money from external sources.' He added: 'I tell you I have never been paid from any lobby group in America.' In a statement to the BBC, Mr. Gusenbauer, who led Austria from January 2007 to December 2008, denied any involvement in Mr. Manafort's work in Ukraine but acknowledged that he had met him twice and talked to European and American politicians about Ukraine, as Mr. Prodi had also done. ... Mr. Prodi said that Mr. Gusenbauer was the 'coordinator' of a group of like-minded liberal and center-left politicians on the issue. ... Mr. Prodi recalled meeting members of Congress interested in Ukraine, but said he had not heard of Mercury. Asked who scheduled the meetings in Washington, Mr. Prodi said, 'I imagine it was Gusenbauer.' ... Asked if the money Mr. Gusenbauer received came from Mr. Manafort, Mr. Prodi seemed skeptical but said that he didn't know. 'Go ask Gusenbauer,' he said, adding that he thought that it was more likely that the money came from European businessmen interested in keeping Europe and Ukraine close.
- ^
Meyer, Theodoric; Gerstein, Josh (23 February 2018).
"Former Austrian chancellor appears to have lobbied as part of Manafort scheme"
.
Politico
. Retrieved
5 October
2021
.
Kutler also accompanied Romano Prodi, a former Italian prime minister, to meetings with Royce and a staffer for House Majority Whip Eric Cantor months beforehand. Gusenbauer and Prodi said their work was focused on bringing Ukraine and the European Union closer together and denied being paid by Yanukovych or Manafort. ... Prodi told The New York Times on Saturday that he'd been paid by Gusenbauer as part of the 'normal private relations I had with him' and they the money had not, to his knowledge, come from Manafort. He said he'd never heard of the Hapsburg Group. 'It was Gusenbauer heading the group; we did all our efforts to have peace in Ukraine,' Prodi said. The group, which consisted of 'experts and former politicians,' broke up when it became clear that 'a stronger relationship with the European Union was impossible,' he added.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|