After a supposedly quiet election campaign, you were spoiled for choice: who would best represent the Austrians? Protest, hope, tactics: what effect will your decision have?
After 1828 days it is our turn again. Exactly five years after the National Council elections, which were hailed as historic, in which Sebastian Kurz celebrated a stunning victory with the ÖVP and the FPÖ collapsed shortly after the Ibiza scandal, we can finally vote again, the Austrians can once again do their utmost best do an important vote and the National Council and thus subsequently re-elect their government.
What remains the biggest surprise from this long-outdated, worn-out government, which started with the claim of combining “the best of both worlds” in turquoise and green and ended up in black and green, not to say gray to grayish? That it only took five years! How do partners who live in their own world and do not want to and cannot understand each other’s cosmos survive for so long?
We don’t like black and green anymore
But we can put this story behind us today. Black and green will almost certainly no longer exist for us in the near future. This is not only because the two parties are light years apart, but mainly because they will be light years away from a shared majority.
Today we can also tick off the election campaign, which many consider quiet and some even too quiet. You might accept that if you were expecting the ‘mother of all battles’. If one had speculated that the attacks and tirades experienced in the unspeakable U-committees and regularly in parliamentary sessions would continue unchecked or even more acutely in the election campaign.
No, it wasn’t that bad. But on the other hand, you’ll hardly notice a lack of verbal jostling, low blows and meanness.
Kickl and Nehammer? Impossible!
In this election campaign we have seen many irreconcilable positions, but above all irreconcilable people. Virtually none of the candidates gave any indication that he (or she) liked the other. Except Karl Nehammer and Werner Kogler, who have nothing to do with each other politically, but clearly appreciate each other personally. But Nehammer and Babler? Toxic. Kickl and Nehammer? Impossible, as the ÖVP candidate swears like a mantra.
But someone will have to form a new government with someone, because an absolute majority is not in sight for any party. And no candidate would likely have deserved it either.
It’s about choosing the ‘lesser evil’, I wrote here three weeks ago. Some reacted indignantly: you cannot judge parties and candidates that way. But many people reluctantly agreed: That was precisely their dilemma in this election.
Spoiled for choice: who should you vote for today? Who best represents the “Voice of Austria”, which we in the “Krone” have focused on in recent weeks – see the requirements on this page?
Many want to vote tactically
Plenty of choice: many people are probably inclined to choose tactically this time. Some to promote something, others to prevent something that concerns them. Some to protest for or against something, others in the hope of doing something good for Austria.
What is left for us voters? To make the best choice based on your own conscience. And raise your voice!
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.
