U-turn before Vienna elections

Education Minister Wiederkehr officially withdraws

However, Christoph Wiederkehr wants to remain party leader.

(Bild: ROLAND SCHLAGER)

The Viennese NEOS leader and new Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr will not be leading his party into the Vienna elections on April 27 as the top candidate. He will not be on the ballot paper. This was announced by the NEOS on Monday - after the politician had actually confirmed his candidacy.

Wiederkehr was once again chosen as the top candidate for the Vienna elections at a general meeting of the Vienna Pinken party on February 22 - on the very day that the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS had agreed to form a three-party coalition at the second attempt. Shortly afterwards, he was sworn in as Minister of Education.

The neo-education minister, who was sworn in at the beginning of March, "naturally wanted to take on his role as top candidate to the full" and make politics for Vienna as party leader of the Vienna NEOS, Wiederkehr announced at the weekend, although he was not seeking a position in city politics. As a minister, he felt "responsible for all schools in Austria".

NEOS deny voter deception
"In life, things often turn out differently than you think from the timetable", Wiederkehr defended this constellation. He rejected the accusation of voter deception before announcing his withdrawal. "I say very honestly and openly that I will not be seeking a position in Vienna, but that I will of course continue to work for Vienna's schools as a minister." In any case, the NEOS had always been more than just one person.

It is still legally possible to withdraw from a list: according to the office of the responsible city councillor Jürgen Czernohorszky (SPÖ), the deadline for submitting election proposals has already expired, but it is still possible to withdraw from a list until tomorrow, Tuesday.

Arapovic joins the NEOS
The new top candidate is now Selma Arapovic, who has now also taken on the role of head of the Pink Club in City Hall. In this role, she has succeeded Bettina Emmerling, who became City Councillor for Education following the departure of Wiederkehr.

However, a complete withdrawal from local politics is not on the agenda: the NEOS politician will in any case remain head of the city party and will also lead any coalition negotiations, Wiederkehr announced at a press conference in the afternoon.

As City Councillor for Education, Wiederkehr had repeatedly clashed publicly with his predecessor Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) in recent months because, in his view, the federal capital had received too little funding for children with German language needs. "Now is the chance for the federal government and Vienna to finally work hand in hand to tackle the huge challenges facing the education sector."