Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen went public again on Monday and explained his motivation for re-election. He feels obliged to do his part in the current difficult situation “to get us back on the right track in general”. He feels better equipped for this responsibility now than he was five years ago, when he was “relatively a young boy.”
When asked why he wanted to serve Austria “with all his heart” for the next six years, the Federal President himself replied: “I am old enough for this office. I have the life experience, the professional experience you need.” In his nearly 15-minute statement in the Concordia press club, Van der Bellen clearly supported sanctions against Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. The resulting economic sacrifices, which the Austrians should also make, are the “price for freedom and democracy”. Clear positions should be taken boldly. Otherwise, nationalists “and Putin’s friends” would try to exploit the resulting uncertainty and “seize power,” stressed the federal president, who described himself as “absolutely independent” and promised a “short, concentrated” election campaign.
He is already asking for donations for this. As early as 2016, Van der Bellen earned a large part of his election budget from donations – both much smaller and large donors such as the construction industrialist Hans Peter Haselsteiner. Most of the money, however, came from the Greens, who supported their former party leader with €4.8 million. FPÖ competitor Norbert Hofer financed his election campaign entirely from the party coffers. This will not happen a second time against Van der Bellen. It is not yet clear which candidate will send the FPÖ in the race for the Hofburg. SPÖ and NEOS will support the incumbent, and the ÖVP will nominate anyone either.
Independent candidates and the signature hurdle
There will probably be independent candidates again. However, many applicants fail because of the 6,000 signatures it takes to run — after all, without a party (and associated funding) in the background or at least some amount of publicity, it’s hard to win so many eligible voters for this statement. Still, a number of non-party members are trying again this year: Robert Marschall and Martin Wabl, who previously failed the 6,000 hurdle, are back. Dominik Wlazny (better known as the leader of the beer party Marco Pogo) is still considering.
Source: Krone
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