2023-11-11 16:51:43
The remaining twelve members of the executive committee and the board members also received good results in Graz.
The rest of the party executive committee and Babler’s deputies were also elected, with high approval: Women’s leader Eva-Maria Holzleitner received 97.3 percent. Vice club boss Julia Herr came to 94.4 percent. Carinthia’s Governor Peter Kaiser received 98.5 percent. The result for Second National Council President Doris Bures, a representative of the Vienna regional organization, was eagerly awaited. Vienna’s mayor Michael Ludwig decided not to run for office. But Bures was given 92 percent.
Verena Dunst from the unruly Burgenland state party – state governor Hans Peter Doskozil did not want to run once more – received 94.6 percent. Lower Austria’s SPÖ leader Sven Hergovich achieved 93.7 percent. The Upper Austrian party leader Michael Lindner got 96.9 percent, the Styrian SPÖ leader Anton Lang got 97.8 percent. Christoph Matznetter, also a Viennese comrade, was elected as treasurer with 92.8 percent. His deputy is Michaela Schmidt from Salzburg with 98.1 percent. Tyrol’s SPÖ leader Georg Dornauer achieved the worst result with 87.4 percent, his deputy secretary is Stefanie Matei from Vorarlberg with 98.6 percent. This means that all federal states are represented on the executive board with voting rights.
“What an awesome result”
“What a great result. What a cool party we are,” Babler applauded the results in a tear-choked voice. It’s not regarding the party or him, but regarding more justice: “We will change the country positively. Kick-off!”
Babler was able to claim another success that the planned organizational reform was passed with a very large majority. It enables a binding member survey if there is more than one candidate for party leadership. Only a large proportion of the Viennese delegates did not support the initiative.
In his application speech to almost 600 delegates and 400 guests at the Graz trade fair, Babler positioned his party as the only alternative to Chancellor Herbert Kickl (FPÖ). The old and new chairman spoke for an hour in his own style, quickly, loudly and without fear of pathos. As expected, its results so far following “five extraordinary months” with 16,000 new members have been positive: “We have achieved topic leadership.” Because we are now a social democracy that is once once more showing a clear edge, that speaks a clear language and that is afraid of nothing and no one.
Nevertheless, not everything is perfect in Babler’s assessment: “We will have to gain breadth,” he told his comrades, even though the content of his speech was clearly left-wing. Regardless, the next election is still up for grabs for the party leader: “We’re turning the match.” The SPÖ is the only force that can prevent Chancellor Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) and the “black and blue wrecking balls”. It will be a directional decision between “human-friendly” and “human-hostile”.
In terms of content, Babler quickly ticked off the twelve key motions that would later be decided by the delegates. This includes a job guarantee for the unemployed, as well as a reintroduction of the Hackler regulation without deductions or a guarantee for shorter waiting times for specialists.
Reduction in working hours only as a pilot test in application form
The long-propagated reduction in working hours is only presented to the party conference as a pilot test in application form – for Babler there is no indication that this is being changed: “We will provide concrete evidence of what a reduction in working hours will bring.” Not everyone appreciated the initiative. A representative of the Lower Austrian association of municipalities said that he would have to lay off an employee if it were implemented, but the Burgenland delegation all abstained. A higher minimum wage must be a priority, the APA said.
Video: Andreas Babler’s speech
Babler persistently attacked the ÖVP’s “elbow politics”, condemned corporations, Rene Benko, and the opinions of experts and commentators who rejected his politics. In the wage negotiations, but not only there, the SPÖ leader sided with the trade unionists: “Party and union, union and party – one piece.”
When it came to more sensitive issues within the party, Babler attempted a balancing act. When it comes to climate policy, he spoke in favor of major systemic change, but on the other hand he called for not pointing the finger at diesel drivers or those who fly on vacation once a year.
Be careful following the counting disaster
When it came to security and immigration policy, he focused on accusing the government of failure, emphasized the right to asylum, but also emphasized that he did not want to have people in Austria who screamed for Sharia law and the caliphate. Babler clearly condemned the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, underlined its right to self-defense and emphasized that combating anti-Semitism was in the SPÖ’s DNA. The parliamentary club submitted its own initiative motion, which emphasized solidarity with Israel, but at the same time also called for supplies for the people in Gaza and advocated for a two-state solution.
Caution was advised for the SPÖ following the counting disaster in the duel between Babler and Burgenland Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) in June. Before the start of the voting process, the new chairman of the electoral commission, Mirza Buljubasic, explained in detail the precautions that would be taken this time to prevent chaos in the vote counting like last time, when Doskozil was initially incorrectly proclaimed as the new party leader. Robert Stein, who has decades of experience in the election department of the Ministry of the Interior, was also brought in to help on Saturday.
The fact that all the delegates have now been gathered together once more is not cheap. Finance officer Christoph Matznetter had to announce that the member survey and two party conferences had slowed down the party’s debt relief process somewhat, as funds were used here that were actually reserved for the 2024 election campaigns. However, Matznetter assumes that the debt relief will be completed in 2026, a year later than planned.
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