The “package of demands” presented on Thursday includes some of the wishes already known from party leader Dominik Wlazny’s presidential election campaign, such as aptitude tests for ministers. In general, the focus was on democratic politics; for example, Wlazny wants all state and municipal elections to take place on the same day and a “Ministry of the Future.”
This ministry should consist of non-partisan experts and create “new concepts and forward-looking ideas, regardless of the election date,” such as how goals set for the year 2050 can be achieved. Wlazny sees this ministry as an important step in the “depoliticization of politics.”
Wlazny was a little more specific regarding the aptitude tests for ministers that have long been demanded. The future coalition partners are to nominate three candidates, from whom a commission consisting of one representative from each parliamentary party and the same number of experts would then choose.
Representatives of his party would “of course” also have to face a hearing, stressed Wlazny. Politics should be made “clean” through more disclosure obligations for parliamentarians and cooling-off phases – not only for constitutional judges, as was decided just a few days ago, but also for companies close to the state.
All elections on the same day
If Wlazny has his way, there should be significantly fewer election Sundays in the future. All elections at state and municipal level should take place on the same day, “so that we don’t have to constantly have an election campaign.” He is also not a fan of early elections. If a state government collapses, the state governor should look for new majorities. Speaking of election campaigns: these should no longer have such a strong impact on the cityscape, each party is only allowed to put up 2,093 election posters – one for each municipality.
Wlazny wants to “depoliticize” not only politics, but also the ORF. He is calling for the dissolution of the political circles of friends on the foundation board: “If we get into parliament, we don’t want to have a say in the ORF.” If his party gets into parliament, an “independent expert” would therefore be nominated for the foundation board. He had some praise for the current government, at least in terms of media policy: the ORF’s budget levy is important in order to finance “public broadcasting as an important component of democracy.”
“Human councils” should discuss issues
The Beer Party is also known for its call for “people’s councils” that would advise on issues of “high interest” on behalf of the population, such as “immigration or federalism reform”. The party’s position on the former is to be presented “in a timely manner”, with key points on migration being “German, a quick entry into the labor market and fair distribution across the federal states, and of course we must ensure that there are no gang wars at Reumannplatz”. The party wants to present its positions on various issues before the election: “We don’t have the answer to all questions today”. However, September 29 is not the “deadline, that’s when things really get started”. Because he is currently working “intensively” on the program and “my day only has 24 hours”, Wlazny has since handed over his office as district councilor in Vienna-Simmering.
The domain “wosisdeileistung.at” has already been secured, on which citizens can see exactly what their taxes are being spent on. After the election, the domain will be donated to the next federal government – even if the party itself is not represented in it. In terms of spatial planning, a binding upper limit for land use is needed and mayors need to be “disempowered” when it comes to rezoning. Wlazny once once more stressed that young people in particular are increasingly turning away from politics. “But they are not fed up with politics, they are fed up with politicians.” The Beer Party, on the other hand, is a “party without politicians.”
When asked how these demands should be financed, Wlazny had a brief answer: “It doesn’t cost anything, but has the potential to save a lot of money.” After the election, he wanted to “talk to everyone,” but FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl was a “no-go.”
