Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen saw his opening speech at the Bregenz festival on Wednesday as an opportunity to address the recent verbal skirmishes between the two government parties, the ÖVP and the Greens, over the debate on “normal thinking people” and to warn himself presenting as society to get used to “exclusive language”.
“We shouldn’t get used to talking about ‘us’ and ‘the others’ again.” -Interview warned against “incendiary” statements when the governor of Lower Austria, Johann Mikl-Leitner, emphasized that they “the vast majority of normal-thinking people” or “the concerns of the normal-thinking broad middle of the population”.
Van der Bellen also sees ‘fire risk’
“It is extremely dangerous to use such terms in such an absolute way, because they are very quickly rendered thoughtlessly and thus contribute more and more to the fragmentation of our community,” Van der Bellen underlined. Without mentioning the ÖVP, the 79-year-old said that the “usual suspects” no longer used this language, but that different parties took each other as role models.
But populism would never claim to solve problems. “Because these problems help the populists to arouse emotions and, thus, the hope of winning elections (…) Populism does not bring out the best in people, but the lowest,” said Van der Bellen, referring to the many problems of our time that should be solved in a liberal democracy with the help of “constructive criticism” and “constructive dispute”. “Stop the distraction battle over terminology and sovereignty of interpretation. Fight for the best solutions,” Van der Bellen urged the country’s politicians.
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.
