Tiroler Tageszeitung, editorial from April 1, 2023. By Wolfgang Sablatnig: “If there is no trust, the party will fall”.

Innsbruck (OTS) In the SPÖ member survey, it’s not just the result that counts. It is at least as important that this result comes regarding in such a way that it is ultimately accepted by all opponents.

Harry Copytz has already done a lot for his party. He had the back of the former mayor of Vienna, Michael Häupl, in the regional SPÖ. He made the Danube Island Festival the largest open air festival in Austria. In the next few weeks, the now 74-year-old will once more play a key role: As chairman of the election commission, he is responsible for the correct handling of the member survey for the party chairmanship.
A lot is at stake for the SPÖ. The party urgently needs a result in order to be able to devote itself once more to content. There would be enough to do. Instead, the Social Democrats are wearing themselves out in internal struggles.
They don’t even manage to appear as one at the speech of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the National Council. Club boss Jörg Leichtfried apologizes to his comrades with reservations regarding the Turkish President of the National Council. Here the dimensions get into a serious imbalance. Those who are too busy with themselves apparently lose sight of reality.
A real danger for the party, however, is the stumbling and stumbling on the way to the member survey. The governor of Burgenland, Hans Peter Doskozil, and his camp question the process. Not with clear statements and announcements, but with side remarks and background information to the media.
Are you already preparing for defeat? In any case, they touch the foundations of inner-party democracy and thus of trust. This game is dangerous; At the end of the day, the warning is Donald Trump.
The red grandees also disagree regarding what the result of the survey is worth. Is it just a picture of the mood, as national manager Christian Deutsch said? Does a relative majority also apply, even if it is still so narrow, as Doskozil and incumbent Pamela Rendi-Wagner implied? Do you need a sting survey if someone misses the 50 percent, as challenger Andreas Babler demands?
It is probably wise to agree that one round of the survey is enough. Otherwise the process will be unbearably long.
Surely everyone must regard the result as binding. Otherwise they don’t have to bother the members in the first place. And they must certainly remove all doubts regarding the implementation and then no longer question it. If they can no longer establish basic trust, it will be very difficult for the SPÖ.

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Tiroler Tageszeitung
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