Election campaign strategy

Coalition question: SPÖ state leaders roll over Babler

(Bild: APA/FLORIAN WIESER)

After Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig and Tyrol's deputy governor Georg Dornauer, Carinthia's provincial leader Peter Kaiser is now also in favor of an SPÖ-ÖVP coalition in the federal government. In doing so, however, they are counteracting Andreas Babler's election campaign strategy (see video above).

Forming a coalition is actually the responsibility of the respective party leader. These days, SPÖ party leader Andreas Babler is being overrun by his provincial governors on the coalition issue.

Dornauer in favor of a renaissance of the former "grand coalition" 
Carinthia's SPÖ Governor Peter Kaiser emphasized once again in an Ö1 interview on Tuesday that an SPÖ-ÖVP coalition would be "good for Austria". Tyrol's Vice Governor Georg Dornauer also pleaded for a renaissance of the former "grand coalition".

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Ludwig is already in talks with Nehammer
Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig is already holding one-on-one talks with ÖVP Chancellor Karl Nehammer and is drawing up the first red lines in terms of content. The party says that Babler has been "informed" about the talks. Whether he is also involved is not being answered.

Babler's election campaign is destroyed
Andreas Babler will have little joy with the plans of his provincial leaders, as they will destroy his anti-ÖVP-FPÖ narrative for the election campaign. "If most SPÖ provincial leaders are in favour of a revival of the SPÖ-ÖVP coalition, Andreas Babler loses his mobilization argument, as he wants to win votes with the horror picture of an ÖVP-FPÖ government. This argument no longer works," says political scientist Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle.

Andreas Babler is losing his mobilization argument, as he wants to win votes with the nightmare image of an ÖVP-FPÖ government. This argument no longer works.

Politikwissenschaftlerin Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle

Perhaps the heads of the provinces also want to do Babler a favor, because in the polls for the EU elections or the Styrian elections, the ÖVP is losing votes massively, but the SPÖ cannot capitalize on this.

In this respect, SPÖ party leader Philip Kucher is right when he says to the regional leaders: "We must first win votes before we make plans for the day after the election."