"Food for thought"

Innsbruck’s mayor settles accounts with VdB & ÖVP

Government mandate to ÖVP instead of FPÖ: For Innsbruck's mayor Johannes Anzengruber (right), Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen acted "ideologically".(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA)

Innsbruck's mayor Johannes Anzengruber is sharply critical of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. For him, the head of state "acted ideologically" with the government mandate to the ÖVP - and not to the FPÖ, which had the most votes. Anzengruber also has unkind words for his former party, the ÖVP. 

"The elections are democratic. To exclude someone like that is a harsh statement, to be fair," said Anzengruber, who is in coalition with the SPÖ and the Greens in the city with his list JA - Jetzt Innsbruck, in clear words towards the Hofburg.

The actions of the Federal President have given me food for thought.

Johannes Anzengruber, Bürgermeister der Stadt Innsbruck

The fact that the population had voted for the FPÖ in first place "should have been respected." The actions of the Federal President had given him "food for thought". Van der Bellen had probably "got off lightly in the truest sense of the word".

ÖVP focused too much on "its own people"
 Former ÖVP deputy mayor Anzengruber attributed the ÖVP's comparatively poor performance - both in the National Council elections and in the regional elections in Styria - to an excessive focus on its own clientele and the party apparatus. "They no longer realized that they need to interact with the people. But not just with their people, but with all people." However, this is generally a problem of the "big parties".

The ÖVP has no longer realized that it has to interact with the people. But not just with their people, but with all people.

The now negotiating parties ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS at federal level are now "challenged", he urged for reforms to taxes and duties.

Anzengruber's revenge on former party
Anzengruber himself ran with his own list in the municipal council and mayoral elections in April, after the city's ÖVP had chosen former state secretary Florian Tursky rather than him - as the ÖVP deputy mayor at the time - as its top candidate.

This independence now gives him the freedom to "get the best for the city". He actually has "nothing to do in party terms" with the provincial ÖVP, but maintains a "good and collegial exchange" with Governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP) and the other members of the government.

Will Anzengruber run in the 2027 state elections?
Anzengruber did not want to explicitly rule out running in the next Tyrolean state elections in 2027 - as he had already hinted at once in the media - but he had "no ambitions at the moment". His "home" is local politics, because he is a "local politician with heart and soul". "I don't yet know what will happen in the next few years," added the city boss. In any case, there is "a lot to do" in the city.