Andreas Babler will likely be clearly confirmed as SPÖ leader this weekend in Vienna. There is no opposing candidate and therefore at the decisive party congress there will at most be comrades who will not vote for him. 8 percent.
It will only be interesting how many there will be: more or less than last time? 2 percent. The exact percentage of votes Andreas Babler will receive at the party congress has not been determined.
Major media reports that Andreas Babler has no nerve-wracking competitive vote this time, unlike the special party congress in June 2023 against Hans-Peter Doskozil. Former Chancellor and party leader Christian Kern ultimately did not emerge as a possible alternative. Although there are counter-candidates with Berthold Felber and Dieter Knoflach, they are no real competition; they are not on the nomination proposal.
The two only receive votes if delegates write their names on the ballot paper. , vote blank. How many delegates will actually vote against Babler or vote blank remains unknown.
At the party congress, the party is now setting the personnel course for the next three years – larger changes to the statutes are being waived. Essentially new is that there can be nine instead of eight deputies for the party leader in the future. It is striking that it is becoming increasingly en vogue for state chairpersons not to run for party committees.
Only four state leaders are running. Major media reports that it is remarkable that some state leaders are refraining from running for the committees – only four are doing so. Vienna's Mayor Michael Ludwig and Burgenland's Governor Hans Peter Doskozil have long refrained from a seat on the committees, with Doskozil also having apologized for the party congress.
Styrian SPÖ leader Max Lercher and Salzburg state leader Peter Eder are doing the same. Lower Austria's state leader Sven Hergovich is leaving the committees because he is not running again. For all of them, this has the advantage that they cannot be punished by a rival camp in the election at the party congress.
If they want, they can also participate in the meetings of the presidium and board without a formal function. In the party, this was not seen as an expression of a lack of unity – Federal Managing Director Seltenheim referred to customs. The full impact of state leaders not running for committees on party unity and decision-making is unclear.
The SPÖ is polling as poorly as ever in polls. 4 percent. 5), it does not hold much more than 30 percent.
Major media reports that Federal Managing Director Klaus Seltenheim expects a 'good result' for Saturday, as he said. Seltenheim saw the currently poor poll numbers for the SPÖ in advance primarily in connection with general dissatisfaction in view of the various crises. The specific reasons behind the poor poll numbers for the SPÖ beyond general dissatisfaction are not detailed.
The expected 'double number of participants' compared to the last party congress would 'not speak for a bad mood in the party, but rather for the opposite', according to Seltenheim. 1,200 to 1,300 participants are expected in the Vienna Messe and thus about twice as many as at the last party congress. Seltenheim also assumes that most state leaders will be present.
Only Burgenland's Hans Peter Doskozil has apologized.