Heike Eder at “Vorarlberg LIVE”.
©VOL.AT
The Federal Council, i.e. the chamber of the federal states, was the focus of “Vorarlberg LIVE” on Thursday. This time, Vorarlberg Federal Councilor Elke Eder (34, VP) acted as a guest from the federal capital Vienna and answered questions from moderator Pascal Pletsch.
Heike Eder is a federal councillor, head of human resources at the Vorarlberg Chamber of Labor, mother and successful disabled athlete with an Olympic bronze medal. She spoke to Pascal Pletsch in the “Vorarlberg LIVE” studio about her path from sport to the Federal Council, a successful career in professional life, inclusion, and how she reconciles all of this with her role as a mother.
Eder, who has been a member of the Federal Council since 2019, is of course no stranger: she is the head of HR at the Vorarlberg Chamber of Labor, a mother of two and was able to secure an Olympic bronze medal as a disabled athlete. How do you get from sport directly into politics? “My path wasn’t the classic path that many politicians have taken. I basically unbuckled my skis and went straight into politics. But I’ve always been interested in politics,” explained Eder, who first worked as a substitute Federal Councilor and subsequently moved into the state chamber in 2019.
The whole broadcast:
Eder described the motivation for taking the step into politics as follows: “Parliament should represent and depict the population. And the population is usually colorful and gray-haired men. But the population is much more diverse, there are young and old, women and women and those with and without disabilities.” The state elections in Lower Austria, in which the VP suffered a defeat, are also casting a shadow in the Bundesrat: “After the People’s Party and the Greens no longer have a majority, the opposition can delay legislation.”
The broadcast “Vorarlberg LIVE” is a cooperation between VOL.AT, VN.at, Ländle TV and VOL.AT TV and is broadcast from Monday to Friday from 5 p.m. There’s more here.
