On the occasion of a “year of democracy with National Council, EU and Chamber of Labor elections”, as the deputy SP club leader in the National Council Eva-Maria Holzleitner described it, the SPÖ Upper Austria held the annual meeting of the state party executive committee in Linz’s Jägermayrhof on Wednesday.
Together with state party leader Michael Lindner, Holzleitner presented the SPOÖ’s goals and demands for 2024. In addition to the “democracy package”, the central aims of which are the abolition of the proportional representation system, the direct election of the governor and the shortening of the legislative period to five years in the state (the OÖN reported), among other things, the options for relieving the burden on staff in Upper Austrian hospitals were discussed.
Binding staffing ratios depending on the size of the health facility, improved supplements for part-time workers and permanent employment for trainees in the nursing sector are “immediate aid for health care for sick people in Upper Austria”. Holzleitner also reiterated the demand for a guaranteed appointment with specialists within 14 days.
According to Lindner, the list of failures by VP and FP in Upper Austria is long: the fact that followingnoon care for children in the state is still not free amounts to a “locational disadvantage”. The SP is therefore calling for a legal right to free, full-day education for children from the age of one.
“Unreasonable for people”
The expansion of renewable energies is also progressing too slowly in the state. “While wind turbines are being prevented in Upper Austria, Energie AG is investing in wind farms in Slovenia,” said Lindner. Hesitation in the energy transition would also endanger the industrial location.
When asked regarding the rumors that the ÖVP was aiming for an early National Council election this spring, Holzleitner replied that “the tactical games and considerations of the People’s Party are an imposition on everyone in Austria.” However, the SPÖ is ready for an earlier election date “in any case”. “The sooner this federal government, which is now unable to act, is replaced, the better.” The party’s stated goal remains to achieve first place with top candidate Andreas Babler.
Blueprint for the federal government
According to Lindner, it is clear that any commitments by the VP not to form a coalition with the FP at the federal level are unfounded. “It has been seen in Upper and Lower Austria as well as in Salzburg that the People’s Party does not hesitate to negotiate with the FPÖ when the majority situation is favorable to it.”
Philip Fellinger
