"More than strange"

Nehammer vs. Kickl as final ORF duel: SPÖ rages

Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl have a good laugh: six days before the election, they will contest the last TV duel on ORF. Andreas Babler (left) is the loser.

(Bild: APA/Erwin Scheriau/Helmut Fohringer/Max Slovencik, Krone KREATIV)

The SPÖ is angry with ORF because it is deviating from its previous practice in the sequence of TV duels between the party leaders on the occasion of the National Council elections. Six days before the election, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl will contest the last duel. Andreas Babler is the loser. 

Before the last National Council elections, the top candidates of the largest and second largest parties always faced off in the very last confrontation.

Babler thwarted
In this logic, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and SPÖ leader Andreas Babler should face each other in the final duel.

The TV duels on ORF

From September 5 to 23, 8:15 p.m. and 9:05 p.m., ORF 2. Two TV duels between the leading candidates of the parliamentary parties will take place each evening on the ORF media campus - each lasting around 50 minutes. Susanne Schnabl ("Report") and Alexandra Maritza Wachter ("ZIB") will alternate as moderators.

Timetable: Thursday, September 5: Babler - Kogler (20.15, moderated by Schnabl) Kickl - Meinl-Reisinger (21.05, moderated by Wachter) Tuesday, September 10: Kickl - Kogler (20.15, Wachter) and Meinl-Reisinger - Nehammer (21.05, Schnabl) Thursday, September 12: Babler - Nehammer (20.3 p.m., Wachter) and Kogler - Meinl-Reisinger (9.05 p.m., Schnabl) Monday, September 16: Kogler - Nehammer (8.15 p.m., Wachter) and Babler - Kickl (9.05 p.m., Schnabl) Monday, September 23: Babler - Meinl-Reisinger (8.15 p.m., Wachter) and Kickl - Nehammer (9.05 p.m., Schnabl).

The TV confrontations on ORF 2 will be followed by initial analyses with political experts and journalists on "ZIB 2". In "ORF III AKTUELL Spezial" at 10.35 pm, the central statements and content will be analyzed live by domestic policy experts and observers in the ORF III studio with Theresa Kulovits, Reiner Reitsamer and Alexandra Nöbauer.

Nehammer vs. Babler on September 12th
Instead, Herbert Kickl, federal party leader of the FPÖ, which recently came third, will face off against the current chancellor on September 23. The TV confrontation between Nehammer and Babler will already take place on September 12th, the one between Babler and Kickl on September 16th. 

SPÖ: "More than strange"
SPÖ media spokeswoman Muna Duzdar sharply criticizes the ORF and its departure from the usual ranking according to party strength. "As a public broadcaster that is obliged to be independent, the ORF must consider how it justifies this decision. It is more than strange when the previous practice is suddenly changed," she told the "Kleine Zeitung". 

ORF counters
The ORF rejected the criticism to the APA. The highest principles in the coverage of the National Council elections are "journalistic objectivity, independence and equidistance", while the order of the duels is based on "journalistic and scheduling criteria".

TV duels from September 5, elephant round on September 26
A total of ten TV debates with longer discussion times (50 minutes) are scheduled on ORF from September 5. The famous elephant round with the leaders of the parliamentary parties will take place on September 26. On September 8, there will be a round of the top candidates not represented in parliament.

The top candidates of the four minor parties running for office across Austria will also have their say in a double "press hour" on September 8 and 15. Further confrontations between the top candidates will be broadcast by ORF 3: on August 30 directly from Alpbach and on September 3. The leading candidates of the parliamentary parties will also be guests on the ORF radio program Ö3-Wecker in September.