After the School Rampage, Elke Kahr Expresses: "My Feelings Don't Matter"
In 2021, when the KPÖ took over the ÖVP, Elke Kahr, the Graz KPÖ leader, casually brushed off international media scrutiny regarding her: She didn't care about her own importance. What mattered was the will of the voters in Graz on election day.
Fast forward almost four years, and Kahr is back under the global media microscope, this time due to a grim past: She is the mayor of the city where the deadliest school shooting in Austria occurred.
Since that tragic Tuesday morning, Kahr has given numerous interviews, easing some media pressure off the victims, much like her predecessor Siegfried Nagl (ÖVP) did after the 2015 school rampage, although he too was targeted by the shooter in question, Alen R., with his vehicle.
The darkest school shooting
Much like she did with the media frenzy surrounding her election victory, Kahr chose to divert attention away from herself in the wake of the tragedy involving eleven deaths: "How are you personally?" a German journalist asked, one of many who posed this question in various forms in those days.
"That's not important today," Kahr replied firmly, without a hint of displeasure. The focus should be on the families of the victims, the survivors, "who now have to cope with what happened."
Tracing the shooter's past
One can understand Kahr's reserved demeanor, given her years of political modesty. However, she has purposefully courted media attention at times, such as organizing an annual "Day of Open Accounts," where she publicly discloses political contributions.
Political contributions and Salary
By KPÖ statute, no more than 2,500 euros net per month can be drawn from political offices by KPÖ functionaries, a rule enacted by Ernest Kaltenegger in 1998 when the KPÖ first became city councilors in Graz and suddenly found itself with a substantial surplus. The KPÖ aims to keep its income in line with the average national income according to its doctrine. Most of the political contributions flow into a KPÖ-owned social fund.
Other parties ridicule these donations as "charity politics."
"I'd be a millionaire"
Kahr usually smiles at such criticism and repeats that politicians should not make significantly more than their constituents. She herself "would be a millionaire" if she had kept her salary as a long-time city councilor and mayor, she once estimated in a "public accounting."
In 2005, Kahr entered the city council, and 20 years later, she is the top crisis manager for a city coping with a school shooting. The 64-year-old handles the situation calmly, despite the numerous, redundant reporter questions.
Gun Law Debate
Kahr addresses political repercussions in an interview by expressing her "personal opinion," a stance that sparks a debate about the gun law: Guns should only be possessed by the law enforcement, Kahr insists. She argues that gun licenses are currently issued too easily, highlighting her concerns about the current ease of obtaining firearms under Austrian laws.[1][2]
[1] https://www.bmi.bund.de/Redaktion/DE/Reise-und-Sicherheit/Sicherheit-Reisen/Verkehrssicherheit/Aufenthaltsrecht-Risiko-und-Terrorismus/Terrorismus-mit-Feuerwaffen.html[2] https://www.bmi.bund.de/Redaktion/DE/Reise-und-Sicherheit/Sicherheit-Reisen/Verkehrssicherheit/Verkehrsfreundschaft/Nationalitaetsarbeit-Terrorismus/Terrorismus-mit-Feuerwaffen.html
- What mattered for Kahr, following the school shooting tragedy, was not her personal situation but rather the support and coping of the families of victims and survivors.
- In her advocacy for stricter gun laws, Kahr argues that guns should only be in the possession of law enforcement due to the current easy access to firearms in Austria.
- Kahr's salary as a mayor and long-time city councilor could have made her a millionaire, but she adheres to the KPÖ's policy of keeping politicians' income in line with the national average.
