Big city is different

Nowak: “Vienna is left-wing, the rest of the country is not”

(Bild: krone.tv)

The SPÖ is in a strategic crisis. Rainer Nowak, head of the politics and economics department at the "Kronen Zeitung", sees the party facing a difficult dilemma - especially with regard to the political divide between Vienna and the rest of Austria. How can the SPÖ win back its former core voters? 

"I think that's the million-dollar question," says Nowak. "Then they would probably have to elect me as Social Democratic Party leader and not Mr. Fussi or Mr. Babler." The central challenge is the positioning of the SPÖ: "Will the SPÖ become a middle-class party, because it is actually its old clientele, which has also become a little more affluent thanks to social democracy? Or does it continue to see itself as the party of the poorer and poorest?"

Nowak sees the party in a dilemma that is almost impossible to resolve: "There was Michael Häupl's thesis, who said that we should actually take care of the migrants because they are the new poor. But that would be hard to reconcile with the different electorate of the Social Democrats."

He pleads for a look at Denmark, where social democracy has successfully oriented itself towards the center: "The election will be decided in the middle. Social democracy will certainly have to move further to the right, as Andreas Babler's predecessors did."

Why does Vienna work differently?
While the SPÖ is fighting for its existence in the rest of Austria, Vienna remains its stronghold. According to Nowak, this is due to the special rules of the big city: "Vienna is not Austria, you have to make that quite clear. It's a big city with its own rules and its own voters, who always guarantee a left-wing majority here. Vienna is left-wing, the rest of Austria is not."

Mayor Michael Ludwig's success is based on his ability to unite the different wings of the Vienna SPÖ: "There is not one Vienna SPÖ, there are three or four Vienna SPÖs. And ideally, and this has been successful so far, these wings work together."

But this comes at a price: "Sometimes this means that the Mayor of Vienna perhaps doesn't make as many decisions as he should, but rather takes a wait-and-see approach and seems a little hesitant. But that has to do with the fact that he has to cover this huge spectrum."

Why does Kickl work?
Herbert Kickl scores particularly well with the public because he is seen as having expertise in key issues such as migration and asylum. "People then trust Herbert Kickl. People are more likely to trust him," says Nowak. He sees parallels here with former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who "was obviously very authentic for the population on this topic and was probably elected for this reason."

Nowak is particularly surprised by the new closeness between Kickl and Kurz: "Perhaps this is one reason why the two of them have recently developed a good rapport, which I find very surprising."

The challenges for the ÖVP
While Kickl is gaining in profile, the ÖVP is struggling with its position on migration policy. "The ÖVP has tried to some extent, it's trying to take a bit of a 'yes, but' approach," analyzes Nowak. However, this strategy is difficult to implement, especially for Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer: "I think that Karl Nehammer is obviously having a bit of a hard time with this issue."

Watch the full interview in the video above!