Babler ahead of Bures

SPÖ list for National Council elections finalized

From left: Eva Maria Holzleitner, Andreas Babler and Sandra Breitenender at the SPÖ presidium on Friday(Bild: APA/Helmut Fohringer)

The SPÖ has finalized its federal list for the National Council elections. It is headed by Chairman Andreas Babler, followed by the Second President of the National Council Doris Bures and FSG leader Josef Muchitsch. The proposal was adopted unanimously.

The list will be formally adopted at the federal party conference in Wieselburg on Saturday. The country lists will also be adopted there. At a press conference on Friday, Babler spoke of a good mix of experience (e.g. Bures and Muchitsch) and youth. For example, the chairman of the Socialist Youth, Paul Stich, is the youngest candidate and the head of the LGBTIQ organization SoHo, Mario Lindner, is running for seats. The average age of the candidates is 44.

Partly secured in countries
Some of the candidates, such as Women's Chair Eva Maria Holzleitner (Upper Austria, fourth place) and Klubobobmann Philipp Kucher (Carinthia, fifth place), do not need a federal seat. They are secured in their respective states. This means that, for example, the nominated deputy leader Julia Herr, the chairman of the pro-ge trade union, Reinhold Bidner, and Salzburg MP Michaela Schmidt have a chance of entering the National Council. Former minister Norbert Darabos is only in 15th place.

Julia Herr, deputy leader of the party(Bild: APA/Helmut Fohringer)

"Government with heart and brain"
According to Chairman Andreas Babler, Austria needs a "government with heart and brain". For example, the SPÖ is committed to functioning healthcare, gender medicine, equal pay for equal work and the rights of children and young people. "We want to guarantee that the healthcare system is available when people need it, not months later," said Babler on Friday.

In the area of employment, the opposition party not only wants to reduce working hours, but also improve working conditions. Some sectors are under so much pressure that not all employees are able to retire in good health. Babler intends to summarize the most important issues for the National Council elections in a speech lasting around 45 minutes in Wieselburg on Saturday.

The SPÖ currently has 40 seats in the National Council; five federal list seats were allocated in 2019. After the election, the red parliamentary party is likely to be thoroughly renewed. A number of mandataries, such as former government members Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek and Alois Stöger, are retiring from leading political positions. Others, such as former federal managing director Max Lercher, are returning to state politics. The National Council election will be held in the fall.