Want to “lead”

The Greens Call Themselves the “Alternative” for Austria

Green Party leader Leonore Gewessler is looking forward to the fall with hope.(Bild: Screenshot/YouTube/Die Grünen)

Climate disasters, wealth and power in the hands of a few, enemies of democracy: The video with which the Greens are kicking off their fall campaign paints a grim picture. In it, they present themselves as “the only alternative” to stop this trend in Austria.

Specifically, the Greens warn against the FPÖ taking power—and they want to be the alternative to that. “We are not prepared to leave Austria in the hands of right-wing and far-right ‘agitators and divisive figures,’” said Green Party leader Leonore Gewessler. Following the latestelection results in Germany, she added, “The house is on fire, and it is our mission to counter exactly that.”

“Leading the cosmopolitan camp”
At the same time, the Greens are taking a stand against the federal government composed of the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS, which is criticized in the video as “lacking ideas.” Gewessler emphasized that she does not want people to “have only the choice between managing decline and the right-wing destroyers of liberal democracy.” “A great many people want a cosmopolitan future. And we want to lead this cosmopolitan camp.”

In the video, the Greens attack FPÖ leader Kickl, ...(Bild: Screenshot/YouTube/Die Grünen)

... the federal government (pictured: ÖVP Integration Minister Claudia Bauer), ...(Bild: Screenshot/YouTube/Die Grünen)

... former WKO boss Walter Ruck and Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ, right).(Bild: Screenshot/YouTube/Die Grünen)

“Don’t Want to Stand Still”
The Greens draw hope for this from their past. The video features footage of the protests against the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant and in the Hainburg floodplains. Polls, however, do not necessarily inspire hope: Despite rising numbers, the Greens are in fourth place behind the SPÖ. “We’re already 50 percent above our election result from last time, and I don’t want to stop there,” says Gewessler, undeterred. The latest APA election trend currently shows the Greens at 12.9 percent in the polls. The FPÖ continues to lead by a wide margin, having already reached 39 percent in a poll in early September.

You can watch the full video on the fall campaign below: 

Kickl and his Freedom Party are, consequently, the Greens’ main political opponents. From Gewessler’s perspective, the differences are clear: The Greens want to defend freedom, while Kickl’s FPÖ seeks to destroy liberal democracy and a free press. On the issue of protection and safety for women, she says, it is the FPÖ that says “no” to “Only ‘yes’ means ‘yes’”—just as it does on the issue of affordable electricity from domestic sources. “The FPÖ has zero interest in solving any problems, because when the problems are big, the FPÖ’s poll numbers look good,” she concludes.

Greens Make House Calls
The Greens’ solution, on the other hand: “People in this country expect policies that take them seriously, that listen to them, and that provide answers to their questions.” That’s why, over the next five weeks, they plan to travel throughout Austria, seeking dialogue through home visits and gatherings at local pubs. The fall campaign kicks off on Tuesday at the Marx-Palast in Vienna. This will be followed by kickoff events in all nine federal states, and then the tour will continue through October 26.

Gewessler did not want to speculate on when the election will actually take place or whether the government will remain in office until 2029; nor did she want to comment on the question of what kind of coalition the Greens could envision for future participation in government that would exclude the FPÖ. “People don’t want ‘political maneuvering,’ but rather ‘politics that sees them,’” she said.