Mölzer smugly

“Babler is the sad clown of domestic politics”

The politics duel every Tuesday at 21:15 on krone.tv

(Bild: krone.tv)

In the current "political duel" on krone.tv between Eva Glawischnig and Andreas Mölzer, the new FPÖ economic program, the shortage of teachers and Andreas Babler's massive internal party problems are discussed alongside the retirement age.

The first topic is "Babler's problems", where not only the resignation of Linz Mayor Klaus Luger, but also the fierce letter of criticism from Doris Bures, which was leaked to the media soon afterwards, caused a stir. Glawischnig: "Bures is an extremely experienced politician who knows exactly what she is doing. A letter like this always reaches the media. Babler has also seemed very stressed recently and was not cheerful and motivated. He seems almost depressed in TV discussions." Mölzer's view coincides with this and goes even further: "Babler is the sad clown of domestic politics. He has not been able to unite the party." The duelists agree on Babler's chances in the National Council elections. Eva Glawischnig's statement is an example of this: "The duel he has called for first place is completely unrealistic. There is no support for him within the party. It all looks like he's wearing concrete shoes."  

Andreas Mölzer

(Bild: krone.tv)

Retirement age will rise

When asked whether the retirement age in Austria will soon be raised from 65 to 67, as many experts such as AMS boss Johannes Kopf and the chairwoman of the pension commission, Christine Mayrhuber, have recently called for, Glawischnig first responds with a comparison: "The last politician to really say that in Austria was Wolfgang Schüssel. And then he was voted out of office." Mölzer, tellingly: "It will soon become uncomfortable in the social hammock. We now have to motivate as many people as possible to work beyond retirement age. But the taxes and contributions on this must be reduced. The tax burden is far too high." And he adds a smug remark: "In the past, many people died a year after retirement for the sake of politeness. But now everyone is getting much older. 

FPÖ economic offer to the ÖVP?

In a further point, both duelists discussed the recently presented FPÖ economic program, some of the content of which is aimed at the ÖVP. For example, no new taxes, and therefore no wealth or inheritance tax. And a reduction in non-wage labor costs. Mölzer: "It is a very business-friendly program that will make it difficult for the ÖVP to say 'no' to the FPÖ after the election." Glawischnig adds: "It is also an offer to ÖVP voters who are still from the Kurz era. However, it is very cost-intensive and Kickl has not mentioned how he intends to finance it. But Kickl actually comes from the left side of the FPÖ and has often taken social issues into account in the past. These are not included here." Mölzer concludes: "With the ÖVP, there will be a party that sees the economic program in the same way as the FPÖ."  

You can see the two duelists' respective positions on this and all other political topics, such as the behavior of Green Party leader Werner Kogler in the krone.tv summer talk or the question of whether the teacher shortage in Austria could be remedied by Education Minister Martin Polaschek at the start of school, in the video above.