Within three weeks

The SPÖ’s unprecedented series of resignations

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

The resignation of Georg Dornauer continues a more than unusual series in the SPÖ. Within just three weeks, a third of the regional chairmen have resigned from the top. While David Egger-Kranzinger from Salzburg wants to concentrate on his role as mayor and thus remain in politics, Michael Lindner from Upper Austria is leaving the party completely to pursue his private life. Only Dornauer's departure is involuntary.

The development is not all too favorable for the SPÖ, which has already attracted more attention for its personnel than for its content since last year's volatile three-way battle for the party chairmanship at federal level, which was often lost in the face of the internal party turmoil. At least party leader Andreas Babler can hope that in future he will have more favorable state chairmen at his side.

Dornauer announced his resignation as deputy governor on Wednesday.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Little representation of the provincial leaders on the party presidium
Considering that the Mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, and the Governor of Burgenland, Hans Peter Doskozil, are no longer members of the party presidium of their own free will, the representation of the provincial leaders is not exactly broad at the moment and of the four who are still represented, Mario Leiter from Vorarlberg has only been in office for a year - after a months-long stand-off over who will take on the chairmanship of the Ländle-SPÖ.

Sven Hergovich has not been leader of the party in Lower Austria for much longer. He took over the provincial party after the Social Democrats' election defeat in June 2023. Anton Lang is currently trying to get back into the provincial government in Styria in first place if possible. However, if the ÖVP and FPÖ end up forming a coalition, which of course does not look likely at the moment, the SPÖ may have to start looking for a new regional leader again.

Peter Kaiser firmly in the saddle - but of retirement age
For the time being, there are no signs of any personnel changes in Carinthia, where state governor Peter Kaiser is the undisputed leader of the party. However, he too has now reached the regular retirement age of 65 and will probably want to initiate a generational change sooner or later. This was already unplanned in Linz this summer. The long-serving mayor Klaus Luger had to leave office in the wake of the Brucknerhaus affair.