The SPÖ cannot calm down: Today, political advisor Rudi Fußi wants to announce his candidacy for the SP chairmanship. His slogan: “The country needs new reds.” The personal statement was postponed from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. due to the media appointment scheduled at short notice by Federal President Van der Bellen.
The 46-year-old is not a blank slate: in 2002 he initiated the interceptor referendum, which received almost 625,000 signatures. He was with the ÖVP, the Stronach team and the Liberals and has been advising the SPÖ for many years. He is said to maintain a good relationship with former Chancellor Christian Kern. Fußi supported Andreas Babler in the Lower Austrian state elections and was involved in the SP member survey for Burgenland’s governor Hans Peter Doskozil. The PR man is also considered to be the mastermind of the disputes in the medical association.
The SPÖ’s most recent statute reform makes it possible to run for office. Any SP member can apply. The prerequisite is that he or she is supported by a tenth of the members (around 13,900 comrades) from four federal states within a quarter. A maximum of one third of the votes can come from a federal state.
The federal SP tried to downplay the candidacy as a “PR coup”. The Burgenland SPÖ maintained that it had nothing to do with it. “We don’t know anything,” said SP club boss Roland Fürst. Some in the SPÖ suspect that Fußi could only be doing the preparatory work to overthrow Babler and maneuver Kern into the government. But one actually assumes that he acts on his own initiative and wants to satisfy his need for recognition.
For the SPÖ, Fußi’s candidacy does not make the starting position for any government negotiations any easier. Even if the probability that Fußi will succeed is more than small.
The SPÖ does not need any excitement in view of the upcoming state elections. Above all, the arrival of ex-FP boss Norbert Hofer is putting Doskozil under pressure in Burgenland. It is feared that Hofer, together with the ÖVP, could achieve a majority and become the new state governor. It cannot be ruled out that the SPÖ will form a coalition with the FPÖ in Burgenland; the “firewall” would no longer hold.
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