Five important topics

Too unpopular: What party leaders prefer to keep quiet about

Many issues were swept under the carpet by the five leading candidates in the election campaign.

(Bild: AFP)

Never call it an austerity package! Too complicated, too unpopular, too risky: in every election campaign, leading candidates avoid certain topics or give them a wide berth. This election campaign is no exception. The "Krone" presents five topics that were swept under the carpet.

• Finances. Perhaps the most unpleasant topic is money, which has been spent with full hands not only in recent years, but also in the face of crises. Beate Meinl-Reisinger is the only one to say so. She was gesticulating in front of the camera as the other candidates ducked away in the ORF elephant round. Herbert Kickl at least smells the deficit roast and calls for the classic cash fall. Andreas Babler wants nothing to do with austerity and is fully committed to wealth and inheritance taxes, with which he wants to finance all his election promises. Werner Kogler is also keeping a low profile and warns - with one foot in the opposition - against touching climate protection subsidies. Chancellor Karl Nehammer's argument is the most original: on the one hand, he wants to increase the cake to be distributed by means of tax benefits for the economy and growth. The plan is not to build on the previous year's budget, but to scrutinize every single item from scratch. But never call it an austerity package!

(Bild: AFP)

• Women. They make up the majority of the electorate, and thanks to part-time work they are more affected by poverty in old age. In many sectors, the number of women in management positions is still alarmingly low. Meinl-Reisinger was the only woman in the ring, the Liberal never positions herself as a fighter for the quota, and the men hardly or not at all. Andreas Babler, who represents the party of Johanna Dohnal and Barbara Prammer, addressed the issue of women in connection with the Freedom Party's abortion campaign. The fact that the government invested billions in the expansion of elementary education and thus childcare was also almost forgotten.

"Coalition of silence" on five important issues

Justice. It is astonishing that Green Party leader Werner Kogler only focused on climate protection, but justice and corruption were not discussed. There were also no attacks on the ÖVP because of the corruption scandals.

Women's politics. SPÖ leader Andreas Babler only addressed women's policy in the finale of the elephant round. Beate Meinl-Reisinger did not address how to improve women's working conditions.

Anti-terror. Only four weeks ago, the Taylor Swift concert was canceled. The ÖVP's favorite topic, the surveillance of social media and messenger services, was hardly mentioned.

Foreign policy. European policy or the Gaza conflict played no role. But even the Ukraine conflict was only brought up by FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. He called for an end to the Russia sanctions.

Austerity package. Only NEOS frontwoman Beate Meinl-Reisinger presented an austerity program for the budget. All other top candidates ducked the budget and pension gap.

• Justice. Just a few months ago, allegations of corruption against the ÖVP dominated U committees. Some observers saw the People's Party at its ideological end. The Greens, above all Alma Zadić, and the economic and corruption prosecutors celebrated themselves as the "incorruptible" when Sebastian Kurz had to resign. Now the ÖVP is about to jump back into first place. Only the Ibiza party FPÖ briefly attacked the ÖVP over this. Werner Kogler had apparently forgotten all about it. Neither the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office nor the massive personnel problem with the corruption hunters has been resolved.

(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

• Security. Terror has arrived as a danger in the middle of Austria. Most recently, attacks on Taylor Swift concerts were prevented and the party of the year was canceled. However, this has hardly become an issue. The ÖVP's demand for the necessary monitoring of messenger services was briefly discussed, but even rejected by the FPÖ.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/Eva Manhart, zVg)

• Foreign policy. Anyone who even mentions the word Gaza risks an emotional debate, against which the coronavirus vaccination discussion is a child's birthday party. That is why everyone kept a low profile when it came to the Middle East conflict. Kickl was the only one to address the Ukraine conflict and called for an end to the Russia sanctions. That doesn't make a coalition with the ÖVP any easier. And Europe? That's what the European Parliament election campaign was all about.