Re-election of Ümit Vural as President of the IGGÖ is being contested

2023-12-03 15:51:41

Vienna (OTS) – On Saturday, December 2nd, 2023, the Islamic religious community in Austria held new elections. The incumbent president Ümit Vural was re-elected.

However, the elections were carried out illegally and the Al-Taqwa religious community of the IGGÖ contested the elections with the responsible authority.

President Vural abuses his position as power holder within the IGGÖ and violates the rights of thousands of members and religious communities that are parts of the IGGÖ. During the last five years of his term in office, Ümit Vural became known as someone who did not tolerate criticism. The critical voices were systematically removed. For example, the member of the Supreme Council who was critical of the President’s actions was removed from his post in the middle of his term in office. In addition, attempts have been made for months to dissolve the Al-Taqwa religious community, which runs twelve mosques across Austria and which is critical of the president’s approach. The case is currently before the Vienna Administrative Court.

So it is easy for Ümit Vural to have the vast majority behind him if the critics have been removed from the field in advance. Support of almost 100% is only seen in totalitarian regimes that have no real elections, but only sham elections.

Ümit Vural’s methods are not surprising. His described ruling within the IGGÖ with strong fists is well known. But what is shocking and disappointing in this context is the fact that the Office of Culture, as the responsible state authority, not only watches silently, but also provides the President with legal suggestions on how he can best implement the dissolution of his critics. Specifically, when President Vurals attempted to illegally dissolve the Al-Taqwa religious community, a written note came from the cultural office on how this could best be attempted.

Regarding the elections that have just been held, several violations of the IGGÖ constitution are clearly visible:

Not all delegates from all religious communities (in the specific case of the Al-Taqwa religious community) were invited to take part in the elections (Article 7 Paragraph 4, Article 8 Paragraph 3, Article 8 Paragraph 4)
Not all religious communities (in the specific case of the Cultural Community of Multicultural Mosque Institutions and the Al-Taqwa Cultural Community) are represented in the Supreme Council of the IGGÖ (Article 8 Paragraph 3)

For the reasons mentioned above, the elections that took place on December 2nd, 2023 were contested in accordance with Section 28 Paragraph 2 of the Islamic Law. The Federal Chancellor was asked not to take note of the election results and not to issue a confirmation of the election notice.