Red rumbling

“Let the hut burn quietly”: The SPÖ is on fire

Heads are spinning at the SPÖ headquarters in Löwelstraße in Vienna's city center. The party is going through a very difficult phase. The polls show a steady decline.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Following criticism of the SPÖ leader from the federal states, the powerful trade union is now also venturing out of cover and expressing its dissatisfaction with the state of the party.

Red alert. Poll ratings are plummeting like a decrepit eagle. 17 percent and falling. A low point for the venerable and stately party. According to reports in the "Krone" newspaper, there is displeasure among SPÖ leaders in the federal states.

Chairman Andreas Babler is the focus of criticism. The decline began when the ÖVP and NEOS joined the government. The provinces fear that the federal government will affect their upcoming regional elections.

Concerned Red
As is well known, the provincial party leaders from Styria and Carinthia, Max Lercher and Peter Kaiser, have already rung the alarm bells. They have also been heard ringing loudly in the trade union.

Led the SPÖ into government: Andreas Babler(Bild: Eva Manhart)

Heads are spinning at the SPÖ headquarters in Löwelstraße in Vienna's city center. The party is going through a very difficult phase. The polls show a steady decline.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

People from the media are not meeting inconspicuously in well-known Viennese cafés. A few stone's throws away from the SPÖ headquarters in Löwelstraße. Quote from a weighty Red: "Let the hut burn."

However, according to Federal Managing Director Klaus Seltenheim, there is still no fire under the roof. "With Andreas Babler at the helm, we will continue on our path united and with a clear direction," he delivered as a standing sentence.

72 percent against Babler in government
However, this could change before the party conference on March 7. IFDD under Christoph Haselmayer conducted a survey for the "Krone" (sample 1500, regardless of party preference) on whether Babler is the right person for central government tasks. Only 19 percent said yes. 72 percent said no.

But it is also a fact that since September, the three-party coalition - the ÖVP is also weakening in the polls - would no longer have a majority in elections.