Office for election losers?

Mister minus 70%: Tursky’s parliamentary group rehearses revolt

Former State Secretary Tursky could be given an official position, his parliamentary group is divided.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The constituent meeting of Innsbruck's municipal council is scheduled for next Friday: The new government of the Tyrolean capital must be in place by then. A possible portfolio for former ÖVP state secretary and election loser Florian Tursky will be a crucial test for his parliamentary group.

Behind closed doors, the designated mayor Johannes Anzengruber is negotiating details of his "Caprese" coalition, which has been more or less fixed since the election. Some of his supporters have already vented their anger on social media about the planned alliance between JA, the Greens and the SPÖ, with the friendly support of the KPÖ.

Office multinational Willi no role model
At the heart of the negotiations, which must be concluded by Friday, is the question of the distribution of portfolios. According to reports, Anzengruber would not be averse to transferring responsibility to "New Innsbruck" and the FPÖ in order to place cooperation on as broad a basis as possible and prevent a concentration of offices as in the era of Mayor Georg Willi.

SPÖ leader Elisabeth Mayr, Anzengruber and Willi from the Greens.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Enlarge city senate from seven to nine
But the Red and Green parties are at least opposed by the FPÖ. If the work is nevertheless to be spread over several shoulders, Anzengruber could increase the City Senate from the current seven to nine members. The eighth seat would go to the FPÖ, the ninth to the SPÖ. On Monday, Benjamin Plach, head of the city party, was being discussed as housing councillor.

Expensive, but not a real task
However, this would mean that there would be at least two non-executive city councillors, namely those of the FPÖ, each of whom goes home with 4700 gross per month - without any other obligations apart from one city senate meeting per week, and not always.

Tursky voters ran over
Florian Tursky from the new - and immediately lost - alliance "Neues Innsbruck" (New Innsbruck), on the other hand, could possibly expect to lead the department. One possible reason: according to an election analysis by statistician Erich Neuwirth, Anzengruber also owes his victory to the Tursky supporters who defected to him in droves in the run-off election.

Long faces after losing the election: ex-LH Platter, regional leader Mattle and Tursky.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

No posts for election losers
But Tursky's faction is deeply divided. They are opposed to a departmental leadership, which would also be a clear signal to the electorate to support a government that operates under Anzengruber, who was expelled from the ÖVP, and is also very far to the left. However, it is not only this issue that is causing a stir in the parliamentary group. Tursky is known internally as "Mister minus 70 percent" because he has lost ten of the 14 seats he once held for Für Innsbruck, the VP, the Seniors' Association and "Lebenswert".

Tursky's support is dwindling
Of the remaining four, three are said to have been contributed by Für Innsbruck, but only one by the ÖVP. Eighty percent of their voters from 2018 are said to have defected to Anzengruber, which means that Tursky, who has been ÖVP city party chairman since fall 2023, enjoys almost zero support in his own party.

Journey into the desert
This is not the only reason why some people would rather send him into the political desert today than tomorrow. Speaking of the desert: Tursky has just been on a trip abroad in Dubai, rumored to be to make business contacts. Tursky himself could not be reached for comment.

From state secretary to yes-man
If Tursky were to pull out, the list would probably implode. A withdrawal of senior citizens' representative BR Klara Neurauter (74) in third place on the list is not completely out of the question, nor is that of Christine Oppitz-Plörer in second place. An office for Tursky with a whopping gross salary of 13,300 euros could possibly still prevent the inferno.

But to do so, the former state secretary would have to say "yes" and "amen" to everything that the red, green and Anzengruber have negotiated for him. Going into the private sector is probably the more pleasant option.