Hans Peter Doskozil:

“Of course I’m not enthusiastic about everything”

Hans Peter Doskozil was out and about in Feldkirch and Dornbirn together with SPÖ regional party leader Mario Leiter.

(Bild: SPÖ Vorarlberg)

During his visit to Vorarlberg, Burgenland's Governor Hans Peter Doskozil refrains from criticizing SPÖ party leader Andreas Babler. He rules out a return to federal politics - and wants to concentrate fully on his tasks in Burgenland. 

Krone: Mr. Doskozil, what brought you from Burgenland to Vorarlberg?
Hans Peter Doskozil: I am on a home leave with my wife - she comes from Aalen in Baden-Württemberg. While she is meeting her friends, I am visiting the Vorarlberg Social Democrats and the Burgenlanders who were at the Federal Fire Brigade Competition in Feldkirch.

Did your support bring the Burgenlanders luck?
They put up a good fight.

Did you give Vorarlberg's SPÖ leader Mario Leiter a few tips on how to become governor?
(laughs) It's simple, but also complicated. In principle, everyone has to know for themselves how to do politics. In my opinion, empathy and a feeling for how people feel are essential. Credibility is also urgently needed - nothing works without it.

Can you give an example?
In Burgenland, the minimum wage was a big issue. If I take this issue seriously and want everyone to be able to make ends meet with a 40-hour job, I can't just walk past a porter who earns 1,300 euros net every day. That's why the minimum wage was raised to 2270 euros net. The court councillors were not enthusiastic, but funding is just as viable in the provincial administration as it is in the economy. The porter, the cleaner and everyone else now get 2270 euros net. That is the right answer in times like these. I don't have to keep handing out subsidies, but rather value people so that they can live on what they earn. For me, that is also the recipe for winning elections.
Mario Leiter: I also had this experience as deputy mayor in Bludenz. You have to be authentic and deliver what you promise. This is exactly what the Vorarlberg SPÖ wants in the area of affordable housing. We have ready-made concepts and starting points to reach people from the middle class. It is particularly annoying that the limit for the allocation of non-profit housing in Vorarlberg has not been raised despite inflation. This is still set at 4,200 euros household income for two adults. Anyone earning more than this will not get a non-profit apartment. And due to the KIM regulation, there is no loan to finance the purchase of an apartment. In the end, these people have no choice but to take a loyal rental apartment. By way of comparison, the limit in Tyrol is 6,000 euros and in Vienna 7,100 euros.

But an increase in the limit is likely to lead to even longer waiting times when looking for accommodation?
This is why a second change is needed to increase the number of non-profit apartments. Currently, the mayor of a municipality decides whether there is a need for non-profit housing at all. Anyone who does not want to finance additional childcare or primary school places will never declare a need. That is one reason why there is so little non-profit housing. And that has to change.

Mr. Doskozil, how do you rate the chances of the Vorarlberg SPÖ in the state elections?
The starting position is of course not great. But I do believe that Mario will achieve a good result, because not everything went smoothly for those in positions of responsibility in the state during the last legislative period. I believe that Vorarlberg has also recognized that more social aspects are needed. If young people can no longer afford housing in the municipalities and towns, something is wrong. Then the alarm bells start ringing. This has been neglected for years and the Social Democrats around Mario Leiter have good proposals for solutions. That's why he will end up with a plus in front of the result.

The two party leaders in the "Krone" interview.

(Bild: SPÖ Vorarlberg)

The National Council elections are 14 days away. How well is your party positioned with Andreas Babler?
It would not be appropriate to comment on federal issues now. That wouldn't be fair. You have to give Andreas Babler the chance to run a proper election campaign from his point of view. Then you have to judge the result. Of course I'm not enthusiastic about everything.

How difficult is it for you not to be the lead candidate and to exercise restraint?
Of course I would have liked to be the lead candidate, otherwise I wouldn't have applied for the position of party leader. But after the decision, there was always one crying and one laughing eye. I would have been tempted to take up the issues of minimum wage, care or ensuring medical care at federal level - that's the crying eye. But being responsible for a federal state as governor is also a great job - hence the laughing eye.
Mario Leiter: In the National Council elections, the SPÖ is running as a team made up of the nine federal provinces. We in Vorarlberg and also the people of Burgenland have given our approval to Andreas Babler's election program. This means that we support the election program. Of course, it is a desired program and we will see which topics can be implemented in possible government negotiations. But now it is important to achieve a good result and that can only be done together.

Mr Doskozil, would you be prepared to take on a ministerial post again if the Reds were to join the government?
No, that is completely utopian. Federal politics is a thing of the past for me. My focus is on the state elections in Burgenland. We have to position ourselves for the next five years.

Wouldn't even the post of Minister of the Interior be appealing?
I'm done with that topic. But it is interesting how the Minister of the Interior keeps calling for measures with regard to deportations. After all, that would be his responsibility. We were particularly affected by the refugee route in Burgenland in 2016/17. Back then, Sebastian Kurz announced that the Balkan route was closed. We now know that it was all nonsense, just a PR stunt. The ÖVP interior ministers have been at it since 2000 - with a brief interruption - and have achieved nothing. In 90 percent of all cases that are decided negatively, the people concerned remain in Austria.

Because there are no agreements with the countries concerned?
Because there are no agreements, because they don't get entry certificates, because they go into hiding, because the procedures take so long - there are all sorts of reasons. I can still remember very well when I was in the Ministry of the Interior in 2005 and helped write the amendment to the Aliens Act. Even then, the ÖVP/FPÖ government didn't get much done.
Mario Leiter: Of course it would be nice if we could be the Minister of the Interior again, as we were back then under Karl Schlögl. Now it's just show politics. The family billion has been destroyed, as has the patient billion. This cannot continue.