In case of takeover

ÖVP: Local leader Thomas Steiner waves goodbye for now

Eisenstadt's mayor Thomas Steiner (right) at the ÖVP's election campaign closing last Friday.

(Bild: Judt Reinhard)

The mayor of Eisenstadt denies a takeover of the state party. He is a local leader with great passion and his place is in the provincial capital.

The ÖVP is still seething after the election defeat. Criticism of provincial chairman Christian Sagartz refuses to die down. One critical member told the "Krone", as reported, that Eisenstadt's mayor Thomas Steiner should take over the leadership "so that we have a real chance of participating in government with Doskozil". The entire leadership team around chairman Christian Sagartz should withdraw.

Talks about coalition
However, Steiner, who was also Sagartz's predecessor as ÖVP provincial party chairman, is apparently not considering becoming his successor for the time being: "The fact is that Christian Sagartz has been asked by the provincial party executive to hold talks with the governor about a possible coalition," he announced yesterday. Patrik Fazekas, the party's regional managing director, also referred to this on Tuesday.

Heart is attached to Eisenstadt
Steiner also emphasized in his statement that "everyone who knows me knows that I am the mayor of Eisenstadt with great passion. My heart is 100 percent attached to Eisenstadt and this is exactly where my place is". Whether this puts an end to the internal debate about the ÖVP leader is doubtful, however.