Three Weeks Left Until the Burgenland Election

The SPÖ must defend its absolute majority achieved in the 2020 state election at the Burgenland election. For SPÖ top candidate and Governor Hans Peter Doskozil, it is already his second run, for all other top candidates it is their first time. The Greens have to worry about re-entry in the Burgenland election, NEOS want to make it on their third attempt.

Burgenland Election: SPÖ Must Defend Majority

In Burgenland, the state parliament - in which 36 mandates are to be awarded - was last elected on January 26, 2020. The SPÖ then achieved 49.94 percent of the votes and the majority of mandates in the state parliament. The ÖVP came to 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 came to 6.72 percent and achieved club status with two mandates - this is sufficient in Burgenland since a constitutional reform in 2020. Alliance List Burgenland and NEOS did not make it into the state parliament.

SPÖ Warns of Blue-Black Ahead of Burgenland Election

The SPÖ is likely to be the clear winner in the January election. This was also shown by a survey published in mid-December by the weekly newspaper "BVZ", in which the Reds were shown with 47 percent. Within the margin of fluctuation, the absolute majority was also possible. Whether the SPÖ can defend this will also depend on whether the Greens manage to re-enter or the NEOS manage to enter. If FPÖ and ÖVP become strong enough, they could topple Doskozil from the governor's throne and form a coalition against the SPÖ - a scenario that the Reds repeatedly warn against.

Burgenland Election with Campaign Cost Cap

The ÖVP and the NEOS officially started their election campaign before Christmas. After the turn of the year, the other parties are also ramping up. The Greens start on January 2, followed by the FPÖ on January 3 and the SPÖ on January 6. The Hausverstand list by Geza Molnar invites to the campaign kick-off on January 5. Posters of all sizes already adorn the winter landscape. The country is not plastered, as the SPÖ has decided on a campaign cost cap of 300,000 euros in advance.

Hofer Wants to Enter the State Government in the Burgenland Election

The 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 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 candidacy will certainly have an effect on the result of the Blues, whether it is as big as they hope, remains to be seen. In the mentioned "BVZ" survey, the Blues win second place for the first time with 25 percent.

Burgenland Election: ÖVP Faces Loss - Greens Must Worry

According to the survey data, these gains are mainly due to the weakness of the ÖVP, which only gets 21 percent in it. The top candidate is the former MEP Christian Sagartz, who took over the party after the 2020 election. The Greens, on the other hand, are threatened with falling out of the state parliament altogether. They only reach the necessary four percent in the survey. If the Greens fall out of the state parliament, state spokeswoman Anja Haider-Wallner would have to leave the state parliament again after just over half a year. She had only taken over the state parliament mandate from predecessor Regina Petrik in June of this year.

NEOS Want to Enter Burgenland Parliament in Election

In both the EU election and the 2024 National Council election, the NEOS were ahead of the Greens in Burgenland, and they are now likely hoping to make it into the state parliament on the third attempt. However, they only got two percent in the survey. At their head is state party leader Christoph Schneider, who was elected top candidate at the end of November.

Burgenland Election: Ex-FPÖ Member on "Common Sense List"

This time, former Freedom Party member Geza Molnar will also run with the "Common Sense List" he founded. Several former Blues are running on the list behind him, including former LBL member Manfred Kölly, who also has experience in the state parliament.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.