Politics Unofficial

After Innsbruck election: Almost in single digits, but no matter!

The long looks on the faces of former Governor Günther Platter, Governor Anton Mattle and Florian Tursky (from left) on election night are unforgettable. The ÖVP still seems to be at a loss.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The ÖVP is down in Innsbruck, but it's hard to see any attempts to rebound. In a comparison of all provincial capitals, the Tyrolean VP brings up the rear. 

Three and a half weeks have passed since the party "Das neue Innsbruck" (the merger of the ÖVP, Für Innsbruck and the Seniors' Association) suffered what was probably the worst defeat in the municipal and mayoral elections and one that was never feared to this extent. A "voter slap" that is rather rare. This becomes all the clearer when you look back at the 2018 municipal elections.

At that time, "Für Innsbruck" received 16.15%, the ÖVP 12.25% and the Seniors' Association 2.7% - making a total of 31.1%. However, one plus one does not always equal two - especially when the "voters" variable is added and underestimated. And so the bottom line for this "new party" was not a "30", but one of the darkest election days in history: 10.15% - just barely in double figures.

"Das neue Innsbruck" top candidate Florian Tursky.

(Bild: Nadine Isser)

Debacle and enormous costs
Since then, the party has been on the wane, possibly still in a state of shock, which would be more than understandable. In addition to the debacle of the results, there were the costs of the election campaign, which were eye-watering and probably far higher than those of the other parties (rumored to be 1.3 million euros). But these have to be paid off somehow. With just a few mandataries, this is like squaring the circle.

The new Innsbruck" has been in the negative headlines often enough. This has perhaps somewhat "clouded" an important view, namely that of the provincial ÖVP. Having only just under 10% in a provincial capital is not only fatal, but a Tyrolean specialty.

Low point for provincial capitals
This is shown by a current comparison of the most recent ÖVP results in local council elections in all other provincial capitals. At the top is Eisenstadt, where the ÖVP achieved a whopping 53% in the 2022 election. This is followed by older elections and less great results for the ÖVP, but all better than the one in Innsbruck. The ranking looks like this (election year in brackets) Bregenz 39% (2020), Graz 25.9% (2021), St. Pölten 22.8 (2021), Klagenfurt 22.5 (2021), Vienna 20.4% (2021) and Linz 18.1% (2021). Of course, elections were also held in Salzburg this year. And there, the Blacks achieved 20.8% - twice as many in percentage terms as in Innsbruck.

In the regional elections in September 2022, the People's Party received 20.6% of the vote in Innsbruck (10,339 in total), making it the number one party, followed by the SPÖ (18.9%), the Greens (18%) and the FPÖ (17.5%). This time, despite the merger, only 6073 crosses were cast for "Das neue Innsbruck".

The crucial question is therefore: What are the ÖVP leaders planning after this disaster in the Tyrolean capital? No stone should really be left unturned. But it seems, at least to the outside world, that hardly anything is happening and everything is continuing as before.

Focus on the national elections?
In practice, this means that those who have always made and continue to make eyes at the party will not be ignored in the future - see the current list compilation in the five Tyrolean regional constituencies (7A to 7E) for the National Council elections. Once again, more consideration was given to alliances and to men and women and less to signals of renewal, courage and reorganization. This chosen path can only be judged to be the right one if you walk it with your eyes closed.