Mid-January 2025

Doskozil announces date for Burgenland election

The people of Burgenland will elect a new provincial parliament on January 19. The election date was decided by the provincial government on Monday. The election campaign should be as short as possible, emphasized Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) to journalists.

The SPÖ will therefore only start on January 6 - four days before the early election day on January 10. The deadline for eligible voters and the upper limit for campaign costs of 300,000 euros is October 29.

"Competition of the best ideas"
For Doskozil, the election date in January proved its worth in the last state election. This allows the government to work through the calendar year. Over the Christmas period, there should also be calm in state politics and then a short "competition of the best ideas".

Convincing voters
When asked about Norbert Hofer, who will be the FPÖ's top candidate in the state election campaign, Doskozil said: "I really don't care who runs with the Freedom Party or with other parties" - even former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for the ÖVP would not bother him, joked the governor. He wants to document the work of his provincial government over the past five years to convince voters.

According to Doskozil, Monday's meeting of the state government was also the last one based on paper files. The entire state administration has now switched to electronic files. "I don't have a laptop, but I had to give in to a tablet now," said the governor.

Criticism from the ÖVP and Greens, approval from the FPÖ
Reactions to the election date were mixed: According to ÖVP state managing director Patrik Fazekas, Doskozil has been running "a permanent election campaign for months". He is also depriving other parties of the opportunity to conduct a proper election campaign in January. "Once again, the governor has run roughshod over everyone", said Anja Haider-Wallner, spokesperson for the Greens. Nobody wants to campaign at Christmas. The FPÖ welcomed the early election date: "It is time for real change and Norbert Hofer will bring exactly that", said state party secretary Daniel Jägerbauer.