After Luger's departure

Majority wants to elect Linz city leader this year

The majority of the Linz municipal council is calling for a new mayor to be elected this year.

(Bild: Horst Einöder)

Following the resignation of Klaus Luger (SPÖ), the head of the city of Linz must be newly elected. While the red candidate Dietmar Prammer is in no hurry and does not want to vote until next year, the ÖVP, FPÖ and Greens - who have the majority in the municipal council - are pressing for speed with a "shoulder-to-shoulder alliance".

In a joint letter, all members of the city senate and municipal councillors from the ÖVP, FPÖ and Greens have written to Deputy Mayor Karin Hörzing (SPÖ). As of next Monday, she will take over the interim agendas of Klaus Luger, who stumbled over the Brucknerhaus lie affair, and as such will decide on the date of the new elections.

Desired date of December 8
In the letter, the three parliamentary groups, which together form the majority in the municipal council, advocate December 8 as the election date. According to information from the state of Upper Austria, this is also the first possible date on which the municipal ballot can be held, according to a press release on Thursday. 

Prammer wants more time
Dietmar Prammer, the SPÖ candidate who would like to succeed Luger as mayor, has already announced that he is not in a hurry with the election date and does not want to vote until 2025. The current planning councillor would like to have as much time as possible to raise his profile among the Linz population.

"Prevent a long election campaign"
The ÖVP, FPÖ and Greens, however, are concerned with "preventing a long election campaign". They consider an election date in Advent to be better than a "week-long delay over the holidays". The three groups' appeal to Hörzing: "Please listen to the elected majority in this city, which demands stability for Linz!" The two Neos municipal councillors also joined the call for an election on December 8 on Thursday. This means that at least 35 of the 61 councillors are in favor of this date.

Hörzing herself has not yet spoken out on the election date. She will not address the wishes of the municipal council groups until next week, she announced in a press release.