The Styrian ÖVP gathered around 700 officials on Saturday for its Styria conference in the Graz soap factory. The crowd was ultimately expected to be larger, and registration had to be stopped on Tuesday. The Farmers’ Union Ball the evening before was just a welcome interlude, as the dance had already begun on Friday with the KPV state assembly. The local political association is the VP faction in the municipal association, state chairman Erwin Dirnberger and his team were re-elected. Peter Amreich, FCG’s top candidate for the Chamber of Labor elections in April, also had a brief say.
However, the election campaign (for the state elections in November) will not be announced on Saturday, it was assured in advance at the VP headquarters. Christopher Drexler wanted to swear his party friends into challenging months – for this he relied on the motivational skills of ex-ski racer Nici Schmidhofer as well as the support of federal party leader Karl Nehammer and General Secretary Christian Stocker. EU top candidate Reinhold Lopatka was also there, as were Education Minister Martin Polaschek and Drexler’s predecessors in office and party, Waltraud Klasnic and Hermann Schützenhöfer.
Urban-Style-Dance as Contrast
At the start there was a dance performance to techno sounds, the “Urban Style Dance” by Christopher Woschitz as a stark contrast to the waltz and folk dance the night before left some guests a bit perplexed. On the other hand, the Chancellor’s speech was clear and unequivocal in its message, which quickly ran through the entire catalog of topics from demarcation from the FPÖ to the abolition of the tax on overtime to the provision of more child care, improvement of the healthcare system and the fight against terrorism. Due to the election campaign, he said at the beginning that some people had “increased fears in recent years and tried to divide where division is possible”. It is important “not to bring the bad out of those who already have it.” He went on to say: “Our problem is the right-wing extremists, not the right-wing extremists.” This time, too, he did not explicitly mention the name Kickl or the FPÖ.
Ex-ski racer Nici Schmidhofer caused a few laughs with her direct manner © APA / Erwin Scheriau
The sustainable security of Austria as a business location, no wealth and inheritance tax as well as the promotion of residential property and the creation of more childcare places, which would enable real freedom of choice in the type of care, were topics that were discussed as expected. Nehammer spoke out very clearly in favor of clarity in the fight against terrorism: “There is no neutrality when it comes to terrorism.” He concluded with the words: “We have the chance to lead people into a good future with honest politics,” and was included Standing ovation farewell.
You stay calm
State Governor Christopher Drexler began with an outlook on the super election year: “Europe is voting. Austria chooses. Styria counts,” he stated. This was followed by a commitment to the “culture of cooperation” and to “working until the last hour of the coalition”, with “sustainable compromises” being important. “We notice what others have chosen as their style or not,” he said with regard to the FPÖ, but emphasized: “Serenity is our weapon.” “These are rough times, some of the demons of the 20th century are gone crawled into her holes. There is only one therapy for us as a people’s party: We have to listen and take these fears seriously and find solutions.” As state governor, “I want to be someone who listens and helps where I can.” The unshakable principles of his policy “and quintessentially Styrian characteristics” are “performance, personal responsibility and security”.
The soap factory was filled to capacity © STVP/KANIZAJ
He then praised the work of his government members in the individual departments. As an example, he cited, among other things, the Wolf Ordinance (by Agricultural State Councilor Simone Schmiedtbauer), “I no longer thought that we would see that anymore,” but then there were good negotiations.
Health and hospitals were also a topic: “Many gears have to mesh here so that everyone gets the help they need.” He referred to the three emergency medical helicopters, which are ready for use 24 hours a day and are now actually allowed to fly at any time after the ban on night landings on The airport had previously prevented this. In the last four years, 1.13 billion euros have been invested in Styrian hospitals: “You could currently buy 43,000 VW Golfs for that,” Drexler explained the sum.
New “Steirer ambulances”
The introduction of what he calls “Steirer ambulances” announced by Drexler had real news value. One to three such additional medical contact points “for minor aches and problems” outside of hospitals should be created in each district and remain open 24 hours a day. He has commissioned State Health Councilor Karlheinz Kornhäusl to develop a detailed concept and negotiate with the SPÖ; the concept is to be tested in a pilot region this year.
With regard to agriculture and the location debates, Drexler identified the “desire for stability,” which has nothing to do with standstill. “Stability is the prerequisite for dynamism.” On the subject of traffic, he spoke out in favor of expanding the A 9 south of Graz and emphasized: “The two lanes are not enough, battery-operated vehicles will also need lanes.” Leonore Gewessler (Greens) ironically described Drexler as “our federal state’s favorite minister”, also because of her negative attitude towards an airport stop for the Koralmbahn.
Iris Drexler (right) with state manager Detlev Eisel-Eiselsberg and the ÖVP government members © STVP/KANIZAJ
For him, the guiding culture is not “excerpts from the village innkeeper’s menu”, but rather a commitment to “democracy, freedom and the rule of law” as well as a “commitment to the equality of men and women”. The dominant culture is nothing other than “house rules for Austria and Styria”, and therefore something completely normal where people live together. After a good hour, Drexler concluded with the assurance: “We still have a lot to do,” and was also greeted with lots of applause and a standing ovation.
But the survey
Of course, the party could not ignore the market survey published in the “Standard”, which put the Styrian ÖVP in third place in the Sunday question. State managing director Detlev Eisel-Eiselsberg once again doubted the quality of the institute’s surveys and tried to substantiate this with comparisons to the actual election results from Tyrol to Lower Austria. The ÖVP has always been significantly undervalued. “If an institute is so wrong, questions must be allowed. Is that a coincidence or just bad luck?” According to Eisel-Eiselsberg, our own surveys have always shown Christopher Drexler in first place since the beginning of his term as state governor and even now. But it is also clear that we are a long way from the 2019 election results. It will be a close three-way battle for the top, as it was in 2015. By the way, the SPÖ came out on top in the end.
Reactions
It didn’t take long for the opposition parties to react. FPÖ club chairman Mario Kunasek called for immediate new elections in a broadcast. “Instead of underhandedly attacking survey institutes, it would be time to take responsibility for this catastrophic policy of the ÖVP, which is solely responsible for these poor survey results,” said the FPÖ state leader. Niko Swatek (Neos) criticized Drexler’s statements regarding childcare and education. In reality, no other federal state performs as poorly as Styria. “Styria has the red lantern in the federal comparison and the state governor speaks of a good path,” said Swatek in a broadcast.
2024-02-10 16:10:32
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