Babler for duty

Babler wants mandatory asylum quota for federal states

SPÖ leader Andreas Babler

(Bild: Imre Antal)

Andreas Babler voted for beer party leader Dominik Wlazny in the presidential election. They are now competing against each other in the National Council election campaign. In the "Krone" podcast "Super Election Year", the SPÖ leader talks about his first May Day speech, Marco Pogo and the topic of asylum. You can listen to the podcast HERE .

"Krone": Mr. Babler, the Beer Party has announced that it will be standing in the National Council elections. Not the best news 24 hours before the May Day march on Rathausplatz ...
Andreas Babler: It's an additional offer on the ballot paper. Political competition is good for democracy. But I'm not getting the kind of gasps he fears.

The beer party will mainly take votes away from the SPÖ, NEOS and the Greens. That could cost you an election victory. Are you really that relaxed about it?
I'm running to get as many votes as possible with the Social Democrats. I want to convince as many people as possible to embark on a new era with social democracy. That is my program. We are broadly positioned, coming from the center of society, to cover all realities of life and to make the necessary improvements for the country.

Would Marco Pogo be a coalition partner for you?
We'll have to wait and see who is actually represented in parliament after the election. Then we can ask ourselves who is possible. I am talking to all of them, I have only ruled out a coalition with the FPÖ.

Dominik Wlazny, leader of the Beer Party

(Bild: Die Bierpartei/Siegfried Leitner)

On May 1st, you will give your first speech as head of the SPÖ on Vienna's Rathausplatz. How high is the nervousness level?
Being able to stand on Rathausplatz on May 1st is a very exciting moment for me. To feel the power of so many people getting up in the morning to celebrate Labor Day together. May Day is therefore a powerful day to set an example. Namely a sign of determination to make a change. For me, it's about fixing a lot of things that no longer work well. And to give a guarantee that people's rights will be taken care of.

Solidarity no longer works so well in the SPÖ. On Saturday in Wieselburg you didn't even get 90 percent, the worst result of all twelve candidates on the federal election list ... 
I am the top candidate and responsible for drawing up the federal list. Logically, you can't convince everyone, as the result shows. I only had to convince one or two delegates, then I would have jumped well over the 90 mark with the 297 who voted. But I am satisfied with the great support.

The Vienna SPÖ has recently promised you great support. The influx of families is putting Vienna under a lot of pressure. As mayor of Traiskirchen, you know such situations only too well ...
 Nothing has changed for many years. There are no proper distribution laws, just toothless agreements. That's why I can understand the city of Vienna and its position. It has appealed to the government to show that a city cannot take responsibility for family immigration alone.

What is the solution?
We need to create a system in Austria that regulates the distribution of family reunification nationwide. Family reunification should take place where it is possible. Where there is school capacity, where people can find housing and jobs. The issue should not be turned into a pawn. It is unacceptable that those who demand the obligation boycott it when it comes to their federal state. Because that is the current reality.

So you are a supporter of a sharing obligation?
Yes. Whether this is regulated by a duty or a mechanism is installed that takes into account the availability of school places, housing and jobs in the distribution is secondary. In any case, a solution is needed.

You have presented a 24-point plan in which you advocate a long-term unemployment project, but you do not address the shortage of skilled workers at all in this program. Isn't that a gap and extremely expensive, because the project costs 30,000 to 40,000 euros per person per year? If you get the long-term unemployed back into work, you can generate added value again and have positive financial effects because you won't have to pay the minimum benefit or unemployment benefit in future. People themselves have more income and purchasing power because they simply have more money at their disposal. Every time we are asked how much does an employment project for the long-term unemployed cost? We are never asked how much it costs to finance unemployment and minimum benefits. That is the important question. All the economic data says that it is simply sensible to invest in employment and not in unemployment.

Andreas Babler at the party council in Wieselburg with his wife Karin Blum

(Bild: Antal Imre/Imre Antal)

The FPÖ is consistently in first place in the polls. They are competing for second place with the ÖVP. When will the Babler effect finally kick in?
I am confident of winning these elections. Here's what I see: The reality is that we are winning elections. We have reclaimed Salzburg City as the provincial capital, which makes me incredibly happy. This is a large and important city, where it was also said that there would be a lot of competition and that we would have no chance. The KPÖ, for example, will cost the SPÖ votes. It didn't cost us anything. We had a good program. We have also won in rural communities where we have never had a mayor before. We doubled in the Innsbruck city elections, where there was an insane number of lists on offer. We won the AK elections with between 57 and 60 to 70 percent in the major provinces. So things are looking good for us.