Within the SPÖ

Schwechat: Power struggle for the mayor’s seat

Mayor Karin Baier - here with the Schwechat town mascot - faces competition from within her own ranks.(Bild: Huber Patrick)

With just under ten months to go before the municipal elections, the SPÖ in Schwechat is trying to saw away at Mayor Karin Baier's seat, and the "Krone" knows who will score the first big points in the red showdown.

The political cards will not be reshuffled in most Lower Austrian municipalities until January of next year. But in Schwechat there is already a tussle for the leadership role. According to well-informed sources, several SPÖ representatives are casting covetous glances at the mayor's seat.

SPÖ politicians on the test bench
Karin Baier is currently sitting in this seat. And she seems to have performed her duties at the top of the city quite satisfactorily so far. At least that is the conclusion of a study that took a close look at SPÖ politicians and their rivals across the country a year before the elections.

300 respondents made their judgment
Baier, who had steered the SPÖ in Schwechat back into calmer waters after the Multiversum scandal, was given a very good report card. Specifically, 300 citizens across all party lines in the brewing town were asked about personalities in the town leadership.

Mayor in the lead
And Baier not only outperforms opposition city councillors, but also those from her own ranks - namely Christian Habisohn and Marco Luksch. In terms of likeability, closeness to citizens, commitment and trust, she scored over 60 percent, while her competitors did not even come close to the 50 percent mark. More than half of those surveyed also attest to its effectiveness and problem-solving skills.

Awareness is top
In terms of name recognition, Baier is the lone leader. 91 percent know the city leader, with Deputy Mayor Habisohn in second place at 45 percent. The study also clearly shows what citizens are most concerned about: the traffic problem. The big issue of the upcoming election campaign therefore seems to be predetermined . . .