Styrians disappointed

SPÖ: “We could not have hoped for any miracles”

Lead candidate Jörg Leichtfried is visibly disappointed by the SPÖ's result.(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

A funereal mood prevailed at 5 pm in the party headquarters of the Styrian SPÖ. Styrian top candidate Jörg Leichtfried and state councillors Doris Kampus and Ursula Lackner bravely faced up to the bitter reality.

The red party functionaries waited in the party headquarters in Graz's Metahofgasse for the first projection with a downcast expression - not a trace of optimism! The fears were realized when the bars of the graph flickered across the screen: the disastrous result for the SPÖ is a shock, the dismay that the FPÖ has made such a clean sweep is even greater. Behind closed doors, however, some Reds admit that they had reckoned with Andreas Babler's downfall, and some even "begrudge" him the wipeout. Many would still have preferred to see Hans Peter Doskozil at the helm.

Leichtfried: "This is not the result I wanted"
"The result is disappointing", says top candidate Jörg Leichtfried, not beating about the bush. The Upper Styrian had assumed that they would be in a three-way fight with the FPÖ and ÖVP. "That has not been confirmed, on the contrary. That's not the result I wanted."

Leichtfried could not say whether there would now be a discussion about a chairman. In any case, "that would not make sense".

Elisabeth Grossmann, the former state councillor and new MEP in Brussels, told "Krone": "Unfortunately, we did not benefit from the high voter turnout. We will now have to do some soul-searching and analyse how we can mobilize our target group even more." But we couldn't have hoped for any miracles, we have to be honest.

Anton Lang: "Targets missed"
Styrian party leader Anton Lang also speaks plainly: "The result is not satisfactory from the point of view of the Social Democrats. The goals were missed and it was not possible to translate the content and issues into votes."

The head of the SPÖ in Graz, Doris Kampus, is at least pleased with the result in the provincial capital: "Graz is a ray of hope and a positive signal."