Carinthia Unofficial

The blue miracle and a good waddle

SPÖ and FPÖ: between mourning and rejoicing(Bild: Evelyn Hronek/ Kerstin Wassermann)

While the red strongholds were brought down, the Freedom Party is building a new bastion throughout Carinthia with Darmann and a brilliant result. An evening of boundless joy and mourning ...

The pain is deep - especially for SP state governor Peter Kaiser. On Sunday morning he woke up in his red Carinthia; just a few hours later he had to hand the state over to the Freedom Party and suffer the worst national election result for the Carinthian Social Democrats. His taciturn retreat after the first extrapolation also speaks volumes. And above all that even the deep red Villach was colored blue. But the SPÖ also lost other strongholds. And it must hurt Kaiser even more that his sustainability coalition was also punished with the election result.

Artificial smile and great joy of victory 
While the red heavyweight's bewilderment is written all over his face, the coalition partner ÖVP appears optimistic. Leader Martin Gruber and his top candidate Gabriel Obernosterer are trying to smile away the frustration when there is actually little to laugh about. After all, they are partly responsible for the most disastrous result in the federal states.

And they also have to fear for two of their National Councillors. While Obernosterer and Klagenfurt's top candidate Elisabeth Scheucher-Pichler are highly likely to enter the House, Peter Weidinger and Johann Weber have little chance of winning a seat.

SP top candidate Philip Kucher at the first projection, with a timid smile.(Bild: Kerstin Wassermann)

It's enough to make you tear your hair out: That's what the Carinthian Blacks must have thought when the first projection was made.(Bild: Jennifer Kapellari)

Despite losses, VP top candidate and political rock Gabriel Obernosterer is beaming.(Bild: Jennifer Kapellari)

The blue success train rolls on
The Freedom Party, on the other hand, was jubilant and cheerful. Their criticism of "system politics" and the cross shots against the Carinthian government are likely to have borne fruit. Although the percentage points dropped again slightly during the count, FP leader Erwin Angerer, his top candidate Gernot Darmann and the party's functionaries achieved what nobody would have imagined: they achieved the best federal result for the FPÖ. It is therefore understandable that the "Haider heirs" will travel to Vienna with a broad chest. If the Freedom Party succeeds in forming a government, the Carinthian FPÖ will certainly be able to secure a high office.

The Carinthian Greens and the Neos have shown little interest in the grassroots. Their top candidates Olga Voglauer and Janos Juvan preferred to get a taste of the Viennese air on election night. Or was it an escape from reality and the election results?

Because they too have to lick their wounds after the blue miracle and the missed election targets.