Evil tongues would claim that it was a symbol of the current mood within the SPÖ: During yesterday’s fourth ORF summer talk with chairman Andreas Babler, the approaching bad weather required the meeting to be moved indoors – the view of the Traunstein was obscured by clouds.
Right at the beginning, the criticism of Babler’s election program by party colleague Doris Bures was a topic. In an internal letter, she had described Babler’s program as “unserious”. The SP in Lower Austria had also agreed with the second National Council President. When asked by moderator Martin Thür how the relationship of trust between him and the second-placed candidate on the federal list was, Babler replied that Bures should not be reduced to her criticism – he considered it legitimate, even if he did not share it.
Rather, he is concerned that someone from the party leadership has leaked Bures’ criticism to the public. It is “a problem of the SPÖ that there is always someone who believes they have to put the brakes on publicly.”
When asked how Babler would finance his demands, such as a billion for housing or a billion for basic child benefits, he replied that according to his calculations, “even a surplus will be financed.” As for whether the tax on the rich needed for this was a coalition condition: “If someone presents a proposal with which we can improve people’s lives without this tax, I am open to it.”
When it came to the topic of social welfare reform, as recently called for by Vienna’s SP mayor Michael Ludwig, Babler Thür often avoided the questions. The minimum benefit must remain a safety net, it is important to guide people into employment – the AMS must be strengthened.
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Babler was ambitious on the subject of migration. A fair distribution of asylum seekers within the EU must be enforced and, if necessary, countries that do not comply with this must be sued before the European Court of Justice. He was referring to Hungary and its head of government, Viktor Orban.
When asked about the affair surrounding the SP mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger, who resigned last week, Babler stated that it was necessary to “take a clear stance”. The SP chairman would also like to see such “clear statements” from other parties. The discussions surrounding his comments to Luger last week, which are still taking place within the Upper Austrian SPÖ, are, however, “completely childish”.