Analysis of an elephant lap – red cards – and red overtakes on the right

There were no underhanded tones and wild shouting matches, there was only innocent foot biting, no one provoked the other into a faux pas: the six top candidates did not really hurt each other, there was largely a ‘consensual atmosphere’, as political scientist Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle put it. said it after the event brought the big elephant to the point. Perhaps one or the other wanted to keep the door open for a coalition.

“Can a candidate possibly fish in another pond of voters?” asked moderator Gundula Geiginger. “Everyone addressed their own customer base very well,” analyzed pollster Christoph Haselmayer. But the politicians were unable to get permanent votes from other parties in the very last edition.

During the debriefing of the experts, an important, emotional topic of the discussion also emerged: the city of Graz and its future transport plans. On Tuesday we published a secret document on the capital’s mobility strategy, which aims at a complete reorganization of the road network. This is where ÖVP Governor Christopher Drexler and FPÖ leader Mario Kunasek really got into trouble: “The concept we adopted from the Kronen Zeitung a few days ago is the definitive declaration of standstill for Graz,” Drexler muttered. “If private transport has to be reduced to a fraction, how should that work?”

Mobility: “Points gain for everyone”
“If this is what the mobility plan looks like, then good night for the city center economy and good night for commuters,” Kunasek said. KPÖ club leader Claudia Klimt-Weithaler and Green Party leader Sandra Krautwaschl saw it very differently. “It was a point win for everyone,” summarized the editor-in-chief of “Salzburg-Krone”, Claus Pándi.

Has Neos’ top candidate Niko Swatek managed to show the state government the red card on childcare? “Yes, he made the failures clear using the statistics,” Stainer-Hämmerle said. But Drexler wanted to show that he governed with reason: “He tried to use the governor’s bonus.”

The expert was surprised by “the conservative worldview”, especially of SPÖ leader Anton Lang. The latter apparently did not realize that men were also responsible for childcare. Pándi added that it was new in Styria that the Reds overtook the ÖVP and FPÖ on the right in this area. Christoph Haselmayer, on the other hand, stated: “Childcare is not a decisive issue for the elections.”