Who will lead the SPÖ in the future? This question is currently driving the party into days of chaos. In ZIB 2, Hans Peter Doskozil defended himself against allegations that he wanted to avoid a vote against Andreas Babler at the special party conference in Linz.
“You really can’t call me a coward,” said the SPÖ politician. He admittedly offered his resignation as party chairman on Tuesday, but only because he felt that the matter was no longer at stake. It was just a matter of “positioning”. However, for him it is not position and person that are important, but the party. He said he was “unavailable later” for that.
Doskozil wants to follow “procedures”.
Therefore, Doskozi himself said: “I will propose and support Andreas Babler.” He also allegedly “bowed” to this decision. Almost all state representatives prevented him from doing so, including those who are not among his supporters, such as the Carinthian governor Peter Kaiser – the last in the party leadership who cannot be clearly assigned and who is looking for peaceful solutions.
The – as reported – sometimes hateful debate would have surprised him, as the party “imposed a procedure”. With this attitude he went to Vienna. Attempts by Babler supporters, despite the current resolution, to coerce a vote from another member he described as “Punch and Judy show”. And further: “I’ll be honest, it’s a bad situation right now.”
Doskozil “did not judge” the sudden reversal of the Viennese state party and mayor Michael Ludwig in terms of the second round of the elections through a second membership decision. From now on one should overlook openly held enmities and “personal sensibilities”. ‘Seven federal states’ also supported the continuation of the procedure that had been going on for weeks.
Doskozil brushed off concerns about the staying power of his vote: “I won an election with this vote.” The efforts of recent weeks have also been comparable to a national election campaign. Ultimately, however, the voters must decide whether they are up to this “challenge”. First, the 52-year-old must survive the vote of the SPÖ deputies.
609 deputies decide on June 3
A total of 609 delegates will be called to vote, with 350 coming from district organizations alone, plus 30 from the national organizations. The unionists have at least 50 deputies, 30 women – both camps, leaning towards Babler, at least at the top.
According to Doskozil, the winner must in any case reunite the party. That should not have become easier after today’s spectacle, which was played out with hard connection.
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.
