Six months before the elections, the battle for places on the list has begun

The battle will be especially fierce with the ÖVP, because it will almost certainly lose the most seats. In the 2019 National Council elections, the Turquoises won 37.5 percent and 71 mandates. Depending on the scenario, the People’s Party runs the risk of losing up to thirty mandates, IFDD boss Christoph Haselmayer calculates.

This will not be an act of charity
“The ÖVP’s drawing up of the list is not an act of charity,” an insider was recently quoted in a newspaper. In Lower Austria there is initially some hostility, with some people feeling badly treated. The ÖVP state list is headed by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, followed by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. The director of the economic association surprisingly took third placeHarald Servus for the current representatives Andreas Hanger, Fritz Ofenauer, Lukas Brandweiner, Johannes Schmuckenschlager and Irene Neumann-Hartberger. The ÖVP logic behind it: ÖAABler before farmer alliance before business alliance.

Babler is not on the state list
The red list from Lower Austria also caused surprise because SPÖ chairman Andreas Babler does not appear on it and only one candidate is on the federal list. Although it was customary in previous elections for the top candidate to be at the top of the list in his state, the SPÖ defends this approach by saying that Babler is not taking the place from any Lower Austrian. The seats in the National Council are distributed from bottom to top: first come the regional lists, then the state lists and then the federal lists.

Parties must look for regional balance
There are a total of 39 regional constituencies that parties must also take into account. An example of this is the SPÖ list in Burgenland. State elections will take place there in 2025. State governor and party leader Hans Peter Doskozil must find a balance between the districts. The red Burgenlanders currently have two mandates in the National Council, but it is unlikely that there will be more. The previous MP Christian Drobits is no longer running for the National Council, but for the state parliament. The current representative of Mayor Max Köllner of Illmitz for the north and Mayor of Inzenhof Jürgen Schabhüttl for the Güssing district will join the National Council.

Trade unions are particularly important for the SPÖ
Trade union representatives have a special position within the SPÖ. The FSG boss and the Metaller boss usually always have a mandate. Josef Muchitsch, the timber boss, currently sits on the National Council. Until a year ago, Rainer Wimmer was chairman of the PRO-GE union.

There is a grassroots democracy among the Greens and the Roses
The Greens and NEOS are less concerned with organizations and regions on the front line, but grassroots democracy prevails here. The state lists and the federal list are particularly important. The “crown” reaches green energy spokesperson Lukas Hammer at the exact moment he writes his application for the Vienna state list. The candidates are elected by the respective state assemblies, the federal list by the Federal Assembly. There is no committee above that changes or helps determine the rankings, Hammer explains. At least half of the candidates in the eco category must be women.

Three-phase selection process at NEOS
The NEOS has a three-phase selection process. The first is the citizen vote, where any citizen can register and award points to the candidates. The second level is the commissions in the states and the third level is the Federal Assembly. Points are awarded at all these levels. Like the Greens, the Roses are more concerned with the issues than with the origins of the candidates. Education and the economy, for example, are particularly important to the liberals.

The FPÖ can expect a 60 percent increase in the number of parliamentarians
The FPÖ can look forward to the elections with a relaxed attitude and, according to Haselmayer, will win a maximum of 22 seats, currently 31. The FPÖ has no classic frontline organizations that absolutely must be taken into account. But you make sure that you have people from all regions, such as farmers, lawyers or doctors, says MP and notary Harld Stefan in an interview with the ‘Krone’. The state lists are drawn up by the committees in the states, in coordination with the federal board of directors. Of course there is no gender equality.