Head roll after the election?

“Babler or Nehammer: someone will have to go”

(Bild: krone.tv)

The party that is in third place in the national elections will have a head roll, says "Krone" domestic politics journalist Erich Vogl. The ÖVP has not yet succeeded in capturing votes with the narrative of the "ghost Kickl". The SPÖ is now trying to position itself "more centrist", "because Babler has noticed the signals".

"A serious defeat for the ÖVP", says Erich Vogl on the occasion of the election results in Innsbruck. Former ÖVP deputy mayor Johannes Anzengruber, who was expelled from his party, clearly prevailed in the run-off election on Sunday against incumbent Georg Willi with just under 60 percent. The ÖVP, with Florian Tursky as its top candidate, had previously suffered a heavy defeat. "The ÖVP must be very worried. We keep seeing the polls with an FPÖ far ahead. Even if Herbert Kickl doesn't get 30 percent, he will certainly get 26 to 28 percent." The ÖPV is stagnating neck and neck with Andreas Babler at 22 percent. "If the ÖVP wants to get going, it will have to do so soon."

"It's about their own survival"
Vogl assumes that whoever comes third in the National Council elections will be replaced. "Either Babler or Nehammer. That means it's also a matter of his own survival."

"Krone" domestic politics journalist Erich Vogl in the krone.tv talk(Bild: krone.tv)

Babler's "steam engine"
On Saturday, SPÖ leader Andreas Babler presented his plan "With heart and brain for Austria", in which he also includes topics in which the SPÖ is traditionally less at home. For example, the demand for more police officers, but also for ankle bracelets for people who are subject to an upright restraining order. "SPÖ grandees such as Heinz Fischer have recently said that the SPÖ should not move further to the left. You can't win anything with such a left-wing election program. You need positions that reach more of the center. That's what the SPÖ is doing now, Babler has noticed the signals."

Babler also wants to turn his SPÖ from a "steam locomotive into a railjet", as he announced at the weekend. Vogl commented: "If you say you're a steam engine, that's not a good starting signal."

Decisive reforms are needed
Migration is a major election issue for many parties. A problem that is not new per se, but is being expanded in one aspect. Namely in the form of family migration. Several hundred Syrian children and women are arriving in Vienna every month and are now causing a major political outcry. Schools in particular are being pushed to their limits. However, the problem was actually foreseeable, according to data from Agenda Austria. Vogl: "But politicians obviously didn't see the problem coming." Similarly, there are other issues that people claim not to have seen in time - such as the pension wave that is currently worrying many industries: "The politicians who are in power now may not care. But certainly not the generations to come. We should finally dare to make drastic reforms here."

Watch the full interview with Erich Vogl in the video above!