Styrian election

FPÖ mobilized again in the finale with Kickl’s help

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl (left) and FPÖ provincial party chairman Mario Kunasek at the FPÖ Styria election campaign finale

(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

Confident in the face of good poll results, the Styrian Freedom Party was the first of the major parties to conclude its campaign for Sunday's regional elections on Thursday evening. Federal party leader Herbert Kickl campaigned for top candidate Mario Kunasek at the Seifenfabrik in Graz. Under the slogan "Now more than ever", Kickl called for protest votes against the current government formation in order to "teach the unteachable in Vienna a lesson".

In his more than 40-minute, as usual hearty, verbal all-round attack, there was little talk about Styria and mainly about the "madness in the follow-up phase to the National Council elections" in Vienna. The FPÖ leader accused the other parties of "pure lust for power". He denigrated Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, who did not give him the mandate to form a government, as a "panderer" who could not detach himself from his left-wing ideology.

Kickl hopes for a "thunderclap on Sunday"
 Kickl therefore hoped for a "thunderclap on Sunday" in Styria, which would trigger "shock therapy" at federal level and "the end of Karl Nehammer" as ÖVP leader and Federal Chancellor. Despite the ongoing coalition negotiations between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS, he was still "highly motivated" and "the People's Chancellor project has only just begun to roll", the FPÖ leader announced. He praised Kunasek as a "great campaign locomotive" who had put on a flawless election campaign. "I am proud of you," said Kickl.

FPÖ provincial party chairman Mario Kunasek (left) and FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl

(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

The Styrian FPÖ leader, who as always was much more moderate in tone than Kickl, was confident of victory, but also swore the functionaries on to the election campaign finale in the coming days. "This must be an election result where the walls are shaking in Palais Epstein, where the coalition negotiators are sitting, and the glass chandeliers are beginning to shake in the Hofburg," Kunasek also said.

Kunasek is looking forward to talks after the election
In Styria, the FPÖ will have to start working on Monday. Election Sunday will be exciting, but Tuesday will be even more exciting. As the winner of the election, he will invite the other party leaders and he is curious to see "who will be at the door". There is a lot to do in Styria, says Kunasek and mentions the well-known election campaign topics of healthcare - with the planned Liezen flagship hospital being stopped as a coalition condition - economic policy, transport policy (keyword: motorists' party) and integration.

(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

Both FPÖ politicians used the image of the father of the family already used in the national election campaign. "Daddy is here", joked Kickl at the beginning of his speech, while Kunasek pointed out that his nickname in the party was "daddy".

Kickl is the only federal party leader traveling to the Styrian election finale. According to the polls, the FPÖ has a good chance of becoming the strongest party in the Styrian state elections for the first time after the National Council elections. The investigations into the FPÖ's financial scandal in Graz, which also affect Kunasek, were hardly an issue during the election campaign.

Protests against the right in Graz
The FPÖ election campaign finale in Graz was accompanied by protests. Around one hundred people took part in a demonstration under the slogan "Now more than ever: not against the right", which was called for by several groups, including "Omas gegen Rechts".

The FPÖ was the first major party to conclude its election campaign ahead of the regional elections next Sunday. The ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens and NEOS will officially end their election campaigns on Friday with closing events. The KPÖ organized an "election finale information stand" on the main square in Graz on Thursday afternoon with coffee, cake and top candidate Claudia Klimt-Weithaler.