Election campaign takes a break

Election campaign takes a break due to the weather

Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Saturday, September 14, 2024 during an overview of the situation at the Ministry of the Interior in Vienna(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

The severe storms that have parts of Austria firmly in their grip and have already led to considerable damage and one death have also forced the National Council election campaign to take a break. In view of the dramatic situation, several parties have canceled their campaign events. The duels between the leading candidates on ORF and Puls24 have given way to special broadcasts due to the crisis.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) will meet with the State Crisis and Disaster Management on Sunday at 2 pm, as he did the day before.  

Election events canceled
The "kick-off to the election finals" of the Upper Austrian People's Party planned for Saturday in Ried, which the Federal Chancellor was also supposed to attend, literally fell through.

An election campaign event by SPÖ party leader Andreas Babler in Carinthia also fell through.

At the weekend, ORF and Puls24 changed their program, and of the planned double press conference of the minor parties on Sunday, only Fayad Mulla ("None") was able to take part; the top candidate of the list of the same name, Madeleine Petrovic, had to make way for a special storm broadcast at short notice.

Duel evenings canceled
A duel evening planned for Sunday evening with representatives of the parliamentary parties from krone.tv and Puls24 was also canceled. A new date was still in doubt.

On Monday evening on ORF, the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) as well as the leaders of the two largest opposition parties Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) were due to duel. These duels were also canceled; the new date is Friday. Puls24 is scheduled to continue on Tuesday with a "Pros and Cons Special", on Wednesday all the leading candidates of the parliamentary parties are to debate in an "Elephant Round".

In Lower Austria, which was hit particularly hard by the storms, the ÖVP election campaign has been completely suspended. The Chancellery is expected to hold further discussions tomorrow, and the planned press conference on the evaluation report of the National Strategy against Anti-Semitism will also not take place.

Further cancellations on Monday
On Monday at least, the election campaign is likely to be hit by further cancellations: an SPÖ press conference on its security program will not take place, nor will one on the ÖVP's "Austria Plan" with Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig. A press conference with Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) on free influenza vaccinations has also been canceled.