Hofburg election – That’s how the Wien-Energie affair Van der Bellen does. pain

In the federal capital, the Social Democrats form a coalition with the liberal NEOS, which is committed to transparency and control. “To say that there are serious irritations is probably an understatement,” political adviser Thomas Hofer said in an interview with APA on Wednesday. “The NEOS and their Viennese boss (Christoph Wiederkehr, take note) not only feel they are unaware, but are also finding a serious violation.”

An affair can also put a strain on personal relationships
The political consequences are “bad and there is a clear burden on red-pink”. According to Hofer, there could also be a “huge burden” in the personal relationship between SPÖ Vienna boss and mayor Michael Ludwig and Wiederkehr.

The positioning of the federal SPÖ is also “threatened and there is now a positioning problem,” Hofer said. There is a “real downer”. If you only look at the amounts at stake for Wien Energie, it is not true that AK and ÖGB presented their idea of ​​an electricity price cap over the weekend or that the SPÖ accuses the federal government of ÖVP and Greens of not doing enough against inflation, not standing firm in the crisis and not being transparent about COFAG for example.

“That does not mean that the problems of the ÖVP have disappeared into thin air, but the People’s Party can be happy: now someone else has the big problems.” Hofer. Political scientist Peter Filzmaier argued the same in the APA interview: “The objective premise is that the topic is incomprehensible to more than 99 percent of voters — regardless of whether they gambled or not and how great or small the risk is.”

Crisis leads to more and more dissatisfied people
Now there is “communication against each other” and there may also be an impact on the presidential election. In the current greatest crisis since World War II, which most politicians talk about, this is leading to more and more dissatisfied people, according to Filzmaier: “As a result, the group of people is growing whose feelings about the future range from fear to worrying to anger, resentment and frustration.”

The two experts agreed on the pertinent questions that the whole thing could have an impact on the presidential election and potentially have a negative effect on incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen. Filzmaier does not see potential electoral turnout suffering. All challengers to Van der Bellen could benefit much more: “Even if it is actually the wrong choice, because the Federal President does not decide operationally how an energy company of the city of Vienna works.”

The challengers may want to tackle the subject emotionally, not factually. The FPÖ, with candidate Walter Rosenkranz, would help “any exciting topic” related to the presidential election, as the PVV itself had drummed long enough that the office of president was not needed at all.

Subject could contribute to “anti-system sentiment”.
Hofer sees “possibly even a difficulty or at least an unimproved situation” for Van der Bellen’s campaign. Because the new billion-dollar issue could contribute to the “anti-system vote”. So for all more or less outspoken “anti-system candidates” it’s a “happy story”. Van der Bellen is also dependent on SPÖ target groups. “And here’s the question of how the affair affects the voting behavior of these target groups,” Hofer said. Also, an “existing spin of the malcontents to award a ‘nut’ in the election could increase”. In any case, the whole topic will occupy domestic politics for a long time to come.