Mayor Michael Ludwig in the big AUSTRIA interview on red-pink.
AUSTRIA: Why did you decide, in the middle of the crisis, to dare to experiment with a new coalition with the Neos?
Michael Ludwig: There had been a well-functioning coalition with the Greens for ten years – at least in most cases. I don’t want to throw any stones in red-green, even if differences have become visible recently. It was just time for something new. And that is Austria’s first social-liberal progress coalition. Such a constellation would also be interesting for other levels in the future – after all, it worked for the first time in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1956 and then a good ten years later became a model of success for all of Germany.
AUSTRIA: You want that red-pink is also tried in the federal government?
Ludwig: The social-liberal coalition worked very well in Germany, and the time of the opposition during this phase was also very good and important for the CDU.
AUSTRIA: Do you want to send the VP in opposition?
Ludwig: The ÖVP has been part of the federal government since 1945 only interrupted by the Kreisky and Sinowatz governments. It would be interesting if there was a different constellation in the federal government.
AUSTRIA: Does your timetable for Rot-Pink in Vienna hold up?
Ludwig: I see a high willingness on both sides to negotiate quickly on an equal footing.
AUSTRIA: We reported that you are planning an eco bang. Will Vienna soon become climate neutral?
Ludwig: I myself have been involved in environmental policy since the 1980s, and the SPÖ has been promoting this for just as long. It’s not about party politics. Climate protection is very important to me personally.
AUSTRIA: Isn’t the Lobau tunnel going to be built as the Neos demand?
Ludwig: That is no longer in the area of city politics. The matter is decided.
AUSTRIA: Do you share Neos’ call for more resources for education?
Ludwig: There are many similarities in education. But I have to work with our Finance City Councilor Peter Hanke to ensure that the budgetary requirements are met. We will have to distribute the money with a sense of proportion, including for labor market policy, for example.
AUSTRIA: Your own young socialists call it madness to enter into a coalition with the neoliberal neos – buzzwords are tenancy law and privatizations.
Ludwig: Much of it, such as tenancy law, is a federal matter and is not even negotiated in Vienna. And it is clear to both parties that they will not get 100 percent of their own ideas through.
AUSTRIA: It would be completely new to me that you would be in favor of privatization …
Ludwig: (laughs) It’s not the time to think about it. We have excellent services of general interest and a public health system that is praised around the world. In the current crisis it is important that this works well. Debates on privatization are out of place here.
AUSTRIA: Is transparency, such as halving party funding, a sticking point?
Ludwig: Transparency itself is absolutely important to me. And it is good and right that we take up the subject. In order to promote political parties, I do not want to anticipate the negotiations at the moment.
AUSTRIA: Will you allow the deputy mayor to return?
Ludwig: I want a coalition on an equal footing. It is easy to imagine that – if the overall package fits – the Neos will be appointed vice mayor.
AUSTRIA: You said in the party executive that the SP team will remain unchanged …
Ludwig: The personal comes at the end. But it’s true. I am proud of my team. Even if we have to rearrange some content-related competencies depending on the department of the Neos, it will stay that way. It has proven itself very well, and I am so confident that I can get along very well with strong personalities next to me in the team. The government team need not fear comparison with any other team …
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