The ÖVP leaders are now meeting for three days to prepare for the fateful political year of 2024. A turquoise building block has already been set: on Monday, Reinhold Lopatka will be elected as the ÖVP’s top candidate for the EU elections after a long search.
On Sunday evening, Chancellor Nehammer met with ÖVP state leaders to present them with the main points of his speech on January 26 in Wels. The event in Upper Austria is intended as the unofficial start of the election campaign, where Nehammer will present his concrete program for his future vision for 2030.
Edtstadler did not want to compete because of the Covid policy
The federal party’s executive committee will meet on Monday, where the EU election list with political veteran Reinhold Lopatka as its top candidate will be approved. The election date will also be discussed on Monday; the ÖVP recently considered moving the election date to the end of May. The end of the meeting marathon is a retreat with the ÖVP government team on Tuesday.
Finding the EU’s top candidate was more than difficult. There were numerous rejections from Karoline Edtstadler against Alexander Schallenberg. “Both did not want to participate because they were afraid that the Covid measures would blow up in their faces,” said a senior ÖVP official. And Nehammer didn’t want celebrities who had no interest when it came to content.
There has been speculation recently about a possible candidacy of a career changer such as ORF presenter Vera Russwurm or ex-“ZiB” presenter and former director of the Jewish Museum, Danielle Spera.
Success with election campaign professionals?
Lopatka knows he is not the first choice, but he is considered a campaign professional; As campaign manager, he ensured that Styrian Governor Waltraud Klasnic could achieve an increase of 11 percent in the 2000 elections. Now he wants to know for himself as a top candidate.
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.
