New & old faces

FPÖ presents lists for fall elections

Mario Kunasek, Eva Maria Kroismayr-Baier, Nicole Sunitsch and Hannes Amesbauer(Bild: Foto Fischer)

On Monday, the Styrian FPÖ presented its state lists for the state and national elections: As announced, club chairman and state party leader Mario Kunasek is first on all constituency lists and the state list. Hannes Amesbauer will be the Styrian leader for the national elections on September 29. 

The Styrian Freedom Party presented both familiar and new faces to the media on Monday: Stefan Hermann takes second place on the provincial list for the provincial elections, with Gerald Deutschmann, the third president of the provincial parliament, in third place. Marco Triller, Member of Parliament for Upper Styria, is in fourth place, followed in fifth place by Eva Kroismayr-Baier from Schladming. Number 6 is Patrick Derler and number seven is Mürztal local politician Philipp Könighofer.

He is followed by Luca-Andre Geistler, Julia Koszednar and Günter Wagner. According to Kunasek, the list was adopted unanimously by the provincial party executive. The FPÖ holds eight seats in the 48-member state parliament.

"The goal is first place"
In an assessment on Monday in the Alexander-Götz-Haus in Graz, Kunasek said that the goal in the National Council elections "is and must be first place. The mood for blue is better than ever. In the provincial elections - if you can believe the polls and sentiment - we should also come first."

Fifteen years ago, there would have been a thin pool of staff, but that is now a thing of the past. "We have a wide range of female and male candidates from a wide variety of professional fields, and we don't have any political newcomers, neither on the regional nor on the National Council election list."

No new content
In terms of content, the election campaign will focus on security, migration, transport with a focus on Graz as well as the economy and the topic of healthcare, especially with the controversial Liezen flagship hospital. 

As announced, Hannes Amesbauer from Upper Styria is first on the list for the national election, with Wolfgang Zanger in second place and Markus Leinfellner, currently a member of the Federal Council, in third. Axel Kassegger from Graz is in fourth place, and Christian Schandor, a soldier and Fürstenfeld city councillor who already gained experience in the National Council from 2017 to 2019, is in fifth place.

The Seiersberg police officer and Styrian AUF leader Reinhold Maier took 6th place. 7th place on the list was entrusted to a newcomer, prison guard Nicole Sunitsch (45), who manages the prisoner house at Leoben prison and is a local councillor in St. Michael.