"Over a Beer with Leonore": Gewessler Starts Austria Tour
Leonore Gewessler, who will run for the election as the new federal spokesperson for the Greens at the end of June, is going on an Austria tour and wants to listen to the people. The Greens are an environmental and climate party, but given global upheavals, they must also provide answers on security, social and family policy, or the labor market, she said in an APA interview. The aim is to make politics that not only work in concept but also in the everyday lives of people.
Gewessler Goes on Tour and Wants to Listen
During her appointments under the title "For a Beer with Leonore," Gewessler wants to engage in conversations with voters starting in May, as this has been neglected during the Green's government work. She wants to "actually listen to what people expect from us," emphasized the former climate protection minister, even though she naturally already has a sense of where she wants to take action. It's not just about the communication strategy: "We have lost elections. That means we have to learn from the things we didn't do well and do them better for the future."
Climate and Environmental Protection Remain in Focus
Gewessler does not shake the Green's core brand. "If the Greens do not stand for climate and environmental protection, then the demolition excavator not only drives through the Lobau but also through the support that people in our country have so that they can actually do climate protection." However, today we live in very different times than in 2019, when - before Corona and the Ukraine war - the feeling prevailed that "the future will be green and the future belongs to the Greens."
Gewessler emphasized that she wants "a party that stands firmly by the side of the people, even with many new questions that are now arising." She recalled the issue of security and the question of how the Greens define themselves as a peace party when Vladimir Putin simultaneously attacks Europe and its values. "Peace must also be defended again in these times. For that, you have to be strong. And I say this consciously, not only militarily but also economically," said the candidate to succeed Werner Kogler.
Green Topics at the Pub Table and in the Living Room
"We need to get better at our politics again," she said in general. It should not only work in the lecture hall and in the "smart concept," but also at the pub table and in the living room. When it comes to women's policy, they should have real freedom of choice between full-time work and childcare - and that is only possible if the latter is reasonably expanded.
Looking back positively on the Green participation in the coalition with the ÖVP, Gewessler noted successes such as reduced CO2 emissions, the introduction of the climate ticket, the expansion of photovoltaics, the automatic valorization of social benefits, and the EU renaturation decision. That she enabled this regulation despite the resistance of the People's Party with her vote was "an important and correct decision," she emphasized: "I would do it the same way again."
Gewessler Wants to Continue Building Bridges
When asked about the goal of future government participation, Gewessler stated that the Greens naturally have a claim and a desire to shape. This is feasible on both sides of the table, both in opposition and in government. If you want to bring jointly developed ideas to implementation, it's about building bridges, and she has proven her ability to do so with the long-disputed deposit on cans: "This bridge-building is the mandate, and I will of course continue to do it, just as I have done in the past."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.