Exchange with Androsch

Defending against the poisoned arrows flying towards Vienna

Upper Austrian party leader Lindner recently met Androsch in Vienna. Lindner currently has to intercept poisoned arrows fired at Babler.

(Bild: SPÖ)

While the Upper Austrian SPÖ chairman Michael Lindner is polishing up his image, his boss is under fire - here in Austria too. At a meeting with industrialist Hannes Androsch behind closed doors, however, it was probably not just Andreas Babler's political line that was the topic of conversation.

They have already crossed paths a few times, but now they have also had a longer conversation behind closed doors. Upper Austria's SPÖ Chairman and Provincial Councillor Michael Lindner recently traveled to Vienna to talk to the industrialist and former Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Hannes Androsch.

Social politics of the center
Lindner was deeply impressed by the 86-year-old. Androsch was very interested in work in Upper Austria; with his Saline AG, he is one of the largest employers in the Salzkammergut region, which is still a core bastion of the Social Democrats. In any case, Lindner agreed with the entrepreneur that a middle-of-the-road policy is needed that understands people's social needs. In any case, the key words are performance, advancement and security - and these should be the central guidelines of social democratic government policy in view of the National Council elections on September 29.

Not the biggest fan of SPÖ leader Andreas Babler
The two Reds certainly talked about the current state of social democracy. And basically, the two are also likely to agree on the party's left-wing course under chairman Andreas Babler. Androsch is not exactly a friend of Babler or his policies. He speaks of ideological dreaming and that a 32-hour week can never be financed. As an entrepreneur, he will certainly understand something about this.

Elegantly intercepted
Where does Lindner stand on the party's course and on Babler? After initial skepticism, he now stands behind him and supports him. He is critical of the fact that many are sawing away at Babler's chair. Lindner believes that we should not be preoccupied with the day after the election, but rather put our energy into the time leading up to it, i.e. the election campaign. In doing so, he elegantly intercepts the poison arrows fired from Upper Austria in the direction of Babler and Vienna.