The deputy head of the SPÖ club, Jörg Leichtfried, does not believe that too many candidates for the party chairmanship will be eliminated in advance. “Most applicants are motivated and will be able to meet the requirements,” he said at a press conference on Monday about the minimum requirements to participate in the party leadership race.
Leichtfried does not mind that 30 statements of support now have to be submitted. This is a good way to show if the person has a corresponding commitment to the SPÖ, but also a number that can be met by non-prominent applicants, the member of the National Council explained.
The mood in the red committees was better than on this Monday. This also had to do with the fact that the national coach, Christian Deutsch, explained to the executive committee that the member survey only served to paint an atmosphere picture. After the meeting, the grandees then decided that statements of support were not necessary. Only false candidates may be selected. However, this was not in the mood of the country organizations outside Vienna. In the decision-making council, they have massively pushed for further hurdles. The result was agonizing debates that lasted more than four hours. The number of members who should support a candidate was pushed further and further down until it had just reached 30, which was pretty much a consensus.
Kickl speaks of “Muppet Show”
FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl reacted angrily to the unrest among the Social Democrats. At a press conference, he spoke of a “Muppet show” and made an offer to the remaining SPÖ voters to “go part of the way with the FPÖ”.
Pensions: SPÖ hopes for support from the FPÖ
The SPÖ, in turn, hopes that the FPÖ will march with the Reds on pension distribution. If the abolition of this ‘pension robbery’, as the Social Democrats call this scheme of pension adjustments, is not agreed in the plenum on Wednesday, they want to turn to the Supreme Court, as Leichtfried announced on Tuesday. However, for this you need the support of another faction. “I can’t imagine that the FPÖ would not accept something like that,” Leichtfried continued. The SPÖ will also support the request with an urgent motion in plenary.
Applying means that if you retire in January, you will not receive the full inflation adjustment until the first year of retirement. The plus decreases from month to month. If you leave in November or December, you get nothing for the first year. Aliquotation will put women at an extra disadvantage from next year. Because from 2024, due to the equalization of the retirement age for women, every regular retirement of a woman will always be in the second half of the year. This means that from 2024 women will never again receive the full inflation correction.
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.
