Behind the scenes – what was whispered at the federal party conference of the ÖVP…

More than 1000 people close together in a narrow room – and hardly anyone with a mask. And then Karl Nehammer greeted the crowd like this: “So much in a small room also means so many viruses, but now we don’t care anymore.” He was reminiscent of his predecessor, who is known to have died before the devastating fourth wave of corona as “mastered”. A bold statement? More idiosyncratic.

A good nose…
Karl Nehammer also showed during his party conference speech that he no longer takes the pandemic seriously. And with his hands: After shaking hundreds of hands before the official part, he felt his nose, cheek and mouth at least once a minute during his hour-long speech. How did an observer whisper it? “For the next two years, let’s not tell our kids: don’t touch your face!” A surprised one: does he want to convey to the delegates what a good nose he has? Or was he just nervous.

Grinning Blue
Which many delegates also wondered: why were they – see Nehammer’s quote above – crammed together in such a small room as List Hall? Where in Graz is also the much more spacious town hall. The grinning FPÖ has the simple answer ready: because the Blues snatched the Stadthalle from the Turquoises for their state party conference!

Faded Turquoise
Speaking of turquoise: While party conferences were briefly designed in turquoise, this color has been extremely reserved lately. The center console on the podium initially shone in turquoise-white-turquoise, with the turquoise fading to light blue before changing to red-white-red during Nehammer’s performance.

dull applause
How quickly the turquoise shine fades can also be seen when dealing with former turquoise hero Sebastian Kurz and his closest confidants. Kurz’s associate Elisabeth Köstinger received only unfriendly whispers, while Kurz himself received only a rather slow round of applause.

Wallner’s silence
Speaking of applause: When the ÖVP state governors were welcomed, it was almost silent for Markus Wallner from Vorarlberg, who was badly injured.

“Django” absent
A topic of behind-the-scenes conversation was also the absent Nehammer pastor “Django” Mitterlehner. Someone who knows him well whispered: “He knows that the journalists are questioning him and then he says something again, which he later regrets. So he doesn’t come at all.”

dissatisfied
Andreas Khol, with the greatest ÖVP experience, could also be wrong: he estimated 90 percent for Nehammer. His reasoning: “There is always 10 percent of those who are dissatisfied.” He must be right about that…