Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the 2013 National Council elections, and thus NEOS’ entry into parliament. The Pinks then achieved almost five percent. “The real sensation was not that day, but all the days after,” praised party leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger. Started as a ‘peaceful civil revolution’, the party is now ‘stronger in the polls than ever before’.
In terms of content, the pink party leader reiterated the core themes of NEOS, such as equal opportunities for children, education, the EU and the abolition of official secrecy. The latter was also the first proposal that NEOS submitted to parliament.
“The citizen movement has remained”
“We have remained a grassroots movement and that is why we are forging alliances with people who have similar concerns,” says Meinl-Reisinger.
Prominent career changers
Around the 2016 presidential elections, this was former OGH president Irmgard Griss, currently ex-Kurier editor-in-chief Helmut Brandstätter. “I’m glad there are NEOS who are putting their finger on the wounds,” for example when it comes to land consumption or the Freedom of Information Act, Griss emphasized.
Criticism of the competition
There was some criticism of the other factions at the anniversary press conference: while the SPÖ and ÖVP were promised power, the NEOS made a “promise of significance,” according to the party leader. Brandstätter, on the other hand, was outraged by the FPÖ, from whose ranks he smiled when the Russian massacres in Ukraine were discussed in the National Council.
3000 applications, 6500 applications
Nearly 3,000 applications and almost 6,500 investigations over the past ten years show that NEOS contributes to the opposition. “Governing is not an end in itself, that is why I am not in politics,” said Meinl-Reisinger.
“Verbrunzer” place
But this press conference could not have done without the name of the party founder, Mathias Strolz. Meinl-Reisinger once said that politics was a “dirty” place, Meinl-Reisinger said, apologizing for her predecessor’s choice of words. “But if you look at the past days and hours, you don’t get the impression that things have gotten better.”
Regarding the EU elections, Meinl-Reisinger and Brandstätter emphasized that all candidates will participate in the primaries, and that the decision will be made on January 27. A few months later, a book was published in which Meinl-Reisinger looked back on her time at NEOS.
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.
