Interview with Stöger

Still no short list for the SPÖ chairmanship in Upper Austria

Former SPÖ Social Affairs Minister Alois Stöger is still looking for the "medicine" for the state party.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The search for a new Upper Austrian SPÖ chairman could take some time. He has no time limit and could also imagine lateral entrants, revealed interim party leader Alois Stöger in an APA interview. He has a clear opinion on the coalition negotiations at federal level.

After Michael Lindner announced in November that he wanted to retire from politics for personal reasons, the former member of the National Council and ex-minister Stöger took over the interim chairmanship of the regional SPÖ on December 1st. His mission now includes finding a new chairperson, who must then be elected in a ballot. This is provided for in the statutes.

No time pressure
According to Stöger, he has set himself "no time limits" for the personnel search. "I have held more than 40 interviews," including lateral entrants. "There are a few who want to join us for a while", but "all the people who can do that are in a good job. A change process like this is not that easy." There is no shortlist yet, so he doesn't want to talk about names for the time being.

Not until the day after tomorrow
Stöger "deliberately doesn't want to be restricted in his thinking" as to whether it will be a single or multiple leadership - after all, the top candidacy for 2027 also needs to be clarified and someone needs to be found for Lindner's vacant state council position. Theoretically, it is also possible that the top candidate will not be chosen until later. "I can't rule that out." Postscript: "We don't have time until the day after tomorrow."

Stöger himself is not an option
The 64-year-old brushes aside the question of whether he could imagine leading the regional SPÖ himself in the long term with "My age is known". He rules out the possibility of Dietmar Prammer, the candidate for mayor of Linz, taking over the leadership of the party; there is also agreement on this with the city party. The mayoral election on 12 January "doesn't really" play a role in his time considerations, rather the question: "Are we in the federal government?" The latter will probably be decided sooner than theO berösterreich personnel issue: "I assume that we will know by Christmas whether this is realistic or not. And I assume that I will not present a candidate to the public before Christmas."

Coalition only if the ÖVP reflects on itself
For Stöger, whether there will be a coalition depends above all on the ÖVP: "If they are able to reflect on their previous government work, then it is possible. If not, then it will be difficult." This will probably be decided by the budget. "If the ÖVP says we want to pursue a different policy to the one we are pursuing now and put Austria before party interests, then it will work." He does not accept the idea that politics in general is only relying on simple messages: "If I don't communicate in buzzwords, don't write to me."

The ambitions of PR consultant Rudolf Fußi for the SPÖ federal party chairmanship do not worry him, but he does wonder where the money for the elaborate campaign is coming from: "I'm beginning to wonder whether the Russians aren't already paying for the election campaign. Someone has to pay for it. And who has interests there ... that makes me very nervous."

Criticism of the country's municipal and industrial policy
Stöger does not want to limit himself to the role of headhunter for the provincial SPÖ, but also wants to initiate substantive issues in municipal and industrial policy. He warns that the fact that a quarter of Upper Austria's municipalities are unable to balance their budgets is undermining democracy. Instead of "seking" the municipalities, they should be exempted from paying hospital contributions. Stöger can also imagine the SPÖ taking legal action to defend municipal autonomy, although he has not yet outlined this in detail. In addition, Upper Austria "absolutely needs a perspective on where our industry is heading". It was a mistake to "give away" MAN in Steyr. It would have been better if the state had been involved, he believes. The state is also "pathetic" in its dealings with IT:U. Partnerships could be entered into here, innovations promoted and managed "and not everything left to the market", according to the SPÖ provincial chairman.