Unofficial politics

Election campaign for Prammer instead of Andreas Babler

Dietmar Prammer could also benefit from the National Council election campaign.

(Bild: Dostal Harald/© Harald Dostal / 2024)

After the mayor's resignation in Linz, possible successor in the SPÖ Dietmar Prammer urgently needs publicity on his own behalf. The approaching national elections could play into his hands. The resigned Klaus Luger may have a job waiting for him at the AK.

The Red Party in Linz was not very happy with the plans of their colleagues from the federal party to send paid election workers through residential buildings to promote the SPÖ chairman Andi Babler. Advertisements were placed to recruit staff to ring doorbells in the evenings and hand out presents - and perhaps even hang teddy bears with Babler's likeness on the door handles.

Using the Babler tour for Prammer
Now, however, the city SPD members want to use this favor for themselves and talk more about Linz than about the federal government. This is a good thing, as Dietmar Prammer, who is to be elected party leader and mayoral candidate on Monday, needs to be much better known, as he himself admits in an interview with the "Krone" - see p. 18/19.

It remains to be seen when calm will return to the party following the announced resignation of Mayor Klaus Luger. And it also remains to be seen whether there is still a professional future for the Social Democrat who stumbled over his own lie or whether he will retire at the age of almost 64.

It's all about contribution years
In his case, too, he needs his contribution years to be able to retire without deductions from the ASVG pension. Rumor has it in Linz that there is still a way for Luger to achieve this - namely with a job in the Chamber of Labour, for which he worked as a historian before his career in politics, before he was brought into the SPÖ by the then mayor Franz Dobusch. According to reports, he has the right to return to the Chamber of Labor - just like former Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who returned to the AK Lower Austria as head of department after the end of his time at the head of the state - for €4,000...gross per month and without greed. That was in 2008 and has long been forgotten.

Luger's departure causes castling.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Luger's departure and the election of a new mayor in Linz also necessitates a reshuffle in the Linz municipal council. Because FPÖ politician and city councillor Michael Raml and his government colleague Eva Schobesberger from the Greens are only "city councillors without voting rights in the municipal council", space would have to be made for them in the city parliament in order to be able to stand in the mayoral election. The prerequisite for this is a municipal council mandate. For the Blue Party, this will be Raml confidant Zeljko Malesevic, while the Greens are not quite sure yet. The SPÖ will not be affected because Councillor Prammer will take over Klaus Luger's seat. So it remains exciting