According to Hofburg candidate Walter Rosenkranz, the FPÖ takes the presidential elections “very seriously”. Because a “change at the top of the system is urgently needed,” Rosenkranz emphasized at a press conference on Tuesday to mark the official start of the presidential election campaign. Now the candidates must collect at least 6,000 statements of support before September 2 to actually get on the ballot.
Rosenkranz, who appeared alongside FPÖ Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz, said of his chances of winning the election that Alexander Van der Bellen’s position “isn’t as certain” as some would like to believe. The blue candidate agreed with the statement of the incumbent party on the government crisis after the Ibiza video, according to which the Austrian constitution is beautiful and elegant. Rosencrantz would otherwise act as the “supreme guardian of the federal constitution”.
In the same breath, he sharply criticized the turquoise-green government’s pandemic management (“restriction of fundamental rights”) and its fight against inflation (“a bad deal”). Of course, the numerous corruption investigations in the ranks of the ÖVP were also mentioned. Asked about the Federal President’s ability to fire the government, Rosenkranz said the odds of doing so were “higher than 50 percent”. “Why shouldn’t a federal president also use the powers laid down in the constitution if he realizes that things are going wrong?” Rosenkranz asked the group of journalists present. “Whether it will be the first, the tenth or the 141st day, there will be discussions beforehand,” the 60-year-old assured.
Rosencrantz wants to stay out of “internal party stuff”.
Rosencrantz only commented very marginally on the turbulence within the party and the drama surrounding party colleague Hans-Jörg Jenewein. He did not want to “interfere in internal party affairs”.
How many names will be on the ballot papers?
The ballot paper for the Hofburg election this year will probably not be as long as in 2016. A total of six candidates gathered the necessary 6,000 statements of support. In addition to Van der Bellen and Rosencrantz, the head of the beer party Dominik Wlazny, MFG chairman Michael Brunner and ex-FPÖ and ex-BZÖ politician Gerald Grosz are also likely to take the hurdle. So far, nearly 20 people have expressed their interest in running for the office. One of the best known of the “little ones” is Robert Marschall, who addressed nearly 78,000 voters in the 2014 EU elections as the top candidate with the “EU Stop” list.
Source: Krone
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