Deadline approaches

Beer Party: polls good, but election bid wobbly

Can Dominik Wlazny carry the momentum from the presidential election campaign into parliament? The big deadline is approaching on April 30.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

The self-imposed deadline as to whether or not the Beer Party will actually contest this year's National Council elections is fast approaching. Only 34 days remain for the political project to reach its funding target of 1.2 million euros - but it is still a long way off.

After the surprise success of founder Dominik Wlazny in the federal presidential election, current polls suggest that the beer party is quite certain to make it into the National Council. However, party founder Wlazny never tires of emphasizing that he wants to build up a sufficient party base in order to actually offer "all" Austrians an option on the ballot paper.

Around 700,000 euros are needed to create a "partyfit for parliament"
 20,000 supporters or 1.2 million euros are needed to take the step towards the National Council in order to create a "party fit for parliament" - the money is to be raised by April 30 without any major donors. Eight weeks after the start of the campaign, the party has raised just over 500,000 euros, as Wlazny explained at a press conference.

Membership of the beer party currently costs 59 euros - Wlazny wants to manage entirely without major donors.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

This raises doubts as to whether the remaining sum can even be raised in time in such a short space of time. But even if that doesn't turn out to be the case, Wlazny doesn't really want to rule out running if the target is missed. Nevertheless, he seemed somewhat disillusioned in his statement - in particular, the recent accusation that the party lacks substance does not go down particularly well with him.

Annoyance at reporting
During the presidential election, he was accused of actually running for election to the National Council with his topics - but now many in the public no longer want to recognize this content as such, the full-time singer of the band Turbobier is annoyed - from women's policy to "real care reform" to social justice, he also listed various headlines about the direction the party would like to take.

Wlazny already discusses these topics every Thursday on his YouTube channel, where he devotes himself to a specific topic under the slogan "Red ma drüber!". Despite multiple crises, it is important to him to point out that "not everything is so bad".

Setting up the party "not always easy"
 He promised to provide a precise formulation of the ideas, including financing options, at a later date. Founding a party is "not always easy" and it will take some time to build it up. However, the next step would be to offer a forum for people in the country with monthly "regulars' tables". This will also crystallize the concrete party line - and also attempt to gain new members.

At the "headquarters in Vienna", teams are currently being formed to "work out plans", he said, once again being rather vague. Wlazny emphasized that these teams are made up of experts, but did not want to give any names when asked. The plans drawn up will then be discussed at one of the "regulars' tables" that are to be established in all 39 regional constituencies.

Mass appeal in Vienna, moderate interest in the west
In the next four weeks, they also want to continue recruiting members, after events in Vienna, Graz and Salzburg, soon in Innsbruck and Linz. The purpose of these events is to "get to know the people who join us". So many people came to the meeting at the shelter on Vienna's Schmelz at the beginning of February that some didn't even get in. "I would like to apologize for that. Next time we'll go to the Stadthalle," said Wlazny optimistically.

"What rhymes with beer?"
 The turnout was significantly lower just over a week ago in Salzburg, where only around 40 people attended in Wlazny's absence. However, this apparently does not dampen faith in the party - at the end of the press conference, Wlazny emphasized the power of unity: "What rhymes with beer? Us!"