Six Weeks Until the Burgenland Election
The NEOS, who have not been represented in the state parliament so far, will follow suit next week. The party programs for the Burgenland election are mostly already known. In the most recent pre-election campaign phase, the focus was thematically on finances at the municipal and state level.
Burgenland Election: 36 Seats Up for Grabs
In Burgenland, the state parliament - in which 36 seats are up for grabs - was last elected on January 26, 2020. The SPÖ then achieved 49.94 percent of the votes and the majority of seats in the state parliament. The ÖVP got 30.58 percent. The Freedom Party received 9.79 percent half a year after the Ibiza affair and the subsequent termination of the red-blue cooperation by the larger coalition partner. The Greens got 6.72 percent and achieved club status with two seats - this has been sufficient in Burgenland since a constitutional reform in 2020. The Alliance List Burgenland and NEOS did not make it into the state parliament.
SPÖ Must Defend Majority in Burgenland Election
Although there are no surveys yet, it can be assumed that the SPÖ will again come first in the January election. Whether they can also defend the absolute majority in the state parliament will also depend on whether the Greens manage to re-enter or the NEOS manage to enter. If the FPÖ and ÖVP become strong enough, they could topple state governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) from the governor's throne and form a coalition against the SPÖ - a scenario that the Reds repeatedly warn against. The SPÖ has not officially started the election campaign yet, but a poster presentation has already been made by the state management. The top candidate Doskozil can be seen on them, but due to his convalescence after the recent operation on the larynx and pneumonia, he has not yet made any public appearances.
Burgenland Election: FPÖ Sends Hofer into the Race
The Freedom Party (FPÖ) is particularly hopeful that the cards will be completely reshuffled after the election, sending Norbert Hofer into the race. The former Third National Council President and former presidential candidate probably has much higher recognition values in Burgenland than the state party chairman Alexander Petschnig. The latter recently entered the National Council and will only run in the last place in the state election. Hofer's participation will certainly have an effect on the result of the Blues, whether it is as big as they hope, remains to be seen. The election result in Styria, which could bring a blue state governor, should certainly make them even more positive.
Greens Fight for Re-entry in Burgenland Election
With the focus on Doskozil's and Hofer's performance, the ÖVP seems to be somewhat left behind. For them, the former MEP Christian Sagartz is running as the top candidate, who took over the party after the 2020 election. The Greens, on the other hand, are threatened with falling completely out of the state parliament if one looks at the 2024 election results. In the EU election in June, they scored 6.6 percent in Burgenland and only 4.7 percent in the National Council election. Green supporters could now either be alarmed by the impending drop-out or vote SPÖ as a precaution, so as not to waste a vote on a hopeless party in view of the four percent hurdle. This would be bitter for the new state spokeswoman Anja Haider-Wallner, who only took over the state parliament mandate from predecessor Regina Petrik in June of this year. In both 2024 elections, the NEOS, who are now likely to hope to make it into the state parliament at the third attempt, were ahead of the Greens in Burgenland. At their head is state party leader Christoph Schneider, who was named top candidate at the end of November. The necessary declarations of support for the candidacy have been gathered by the Pink since last Friday.
Burgenland Election: KPÖ Must Collect Signatures
Geza Molnar, who has also announced his candidacy with his "Liste Hausverstand", saves himself the collection. The former Freedom Party member only needs his own signature as a - now non-party - member of the state parliament for the candidacy. The KPÖ also wants to run and collect declarations of support for this. Signatures can still be collected until December 13. On December 17, the number of eligible voters will be announced, provisionally this is 250,324. As far as election campaign costs are concerned, there is a limit of 300,000 euros for the first time. All parties have pledged to comply with this. However, there is disagreement about the financial situation of the municipalities and the state budget. The ÖVP has requested a special session of the state parliament on the municipalities and the budget will soon be debated in the state parliament.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.