The FPÖ is at a political peak: on Sunday there was a strong increase of about ten percentage points in the state elections in Lower Austria and for the first time the PVV is in first place nationwide in the polls. “This shows that the FPÖ has finally succeeded in developing from a monothematic party to a broad party”, political adviser Thomas Hofer analyses. Opinion researcher Peter Hajek sees it the same way: “Reducing the FPÖ to just asylum is a big mistake.”
The Lower Austrian state elections produced a clear winner: the FPÖ. According to Hofer, the election brought a “double positive” message to federal party chairman Herbert Kickl. On the one hand, the PVV was able to “dust off almost everything that the ÖVP has lost” and, on the other hand, they were also able to win votes from the SPÖ. This was not even convincing with its core themes, emphasizes Peter Hajek.
“Trap Joke of History”
In addition to asylum and Corona, the FPÖ was also able to deal with the new problem number one, inflation. The fact that the Freedom Party in Lower Austria, despite its own affairs, has managed to position itself as an “anti-corruption party” in the recent past, is a “staircase joke from history” for Hofer. One thing is clear with the result from Lower Austria: Kickl is firmly in the saddle, Hofer emphasises.
FPÖ deals with SPÖ-specific issues such as inflation
The sharp rise in votes for the FPÖ on the current issue “perhaps says more about the SPÖ than it does about the FPÖ,” says Hofer. “The SPÖ is in the opposition in the federal government, the ÖVP loses ten percentage points, and yet you can’t even keep the votes from the last election.” And that, although “the inflation issue is currently an SPÖ-specific issue en vogue,” says Hajek.
However, the motives for the election would show that this is more related to the FPÖ than to the Social Democracy. The red party leadership will wonder how they can succeed again in a future National Council election.
SPÖ broods: Stop Kickl’s upward trend – but how?
For the time being, however, the focus is on the two outstanding state elections in 2023 in Carinthia (March 5) and Salzburg (April 23). According to David Egger, the chairman of the SPÖ state party in Salzburg, social democracy in general should ask itself why people do not get through despite the right problems and how to stop Herbert Kickl’s flight.
FPÖ Carinthia wants to surf the blue wave of success
Meanwhile, FPÖ Carinthia boss and top candidate Erwin Angerer is already dreaming that an FPÖ result like the one in Lower Austria is also possible in Carinthia, “which many do not expect”. According to him, the FPÖ does not pursue radical or populist politics, “but stands for honest politics on the side of the Austrian people”. You represent clear substantive points of view. Angerer: “The SPÖ, on the other hand, has long since lost its credibility in many areas.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
