ÖVP Bund criticized

The ÖVP Seniors’ Association and the “separate clubs”

The ÖVP Seniors' Association and "its" non-profit associations invite people to sports activities almost every day during the hot election campaign phase in September. The Court of Audit wants to scrutinize both the federal government and the associations. The decision lies with the Federal Administrative Court. "Krone" and "profil" have taken a closer look at the matter together.

In the chancellor's duel with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, the ÖVP is fighting for every vote. There is potential among the young, but especially among the old. "There are twice as many voters in the National Council elections who are over 80 years old than teenagers who are eligible to vote. And the party managers know this too," says political scientist Peter Filzmaier, explaining the key background. 

It is no coincidence that Ingrid Korosec, President of the Seniors' Association, is to occupy a prominent position on the ÖVP federal list. This list will be presented at the beginning of July and the intensive election campaign will start in September. In the same month - whether by chance or not - Austria's senior citizens will also be particularly busy.

Seniors' Association invites you to tennis days during the election campaign
Twelve days of "age-appropriate" sports programs such as e-mountain biking and taster days of 3D archery are on offer. Compared to other months and years, this is a particularly colourful sports programme organized by the Lower Austrian Seniors' Association and in part (Bund and Tennis Days) also by the Austrian Seniors' Association. This can be seen from an overview on the homepage of the Lower Austrian Seniors' Association (see picture below).

September is a sporting month for senior citizens.(Bild: NÖs Senioren Homepage)

Attentive observers wonder, however, why the association is drawing attention to events organized by a sub-organization of the ÖVP during the hot phase of the election campaign. The "Krone" and the news magazine "profil" took a closer look at the matter. One of the investigations revealed that the Lower Austrian Seniors' Association was actually called the Lower Austrian Seniors' Association until an official change to its statutes in 2013. According to information from the provincial police and an official extract from the association register, the name was also changed from Niederösterreichischer Seniorenbund to Niederösterreichs Senioren (short form: NÖs Senioren or NÖs S) in the course of a change to the statutes in 2013.