The 2012 Austrian Election Interlude: The rise of Frank Stronach and more ...

[Tender Branson]

New poll by Gallup for Ö24:

"Do you want to abolish the compulsory military service in Austria ?"

52% Yes
42% No

Under 30-year olds:

68% Yes

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20100710_OTS0024/oesterreich-umfrage-52-prozent-fuer-abschaffung-der-wehrpflicht

And:

"Do you favor or oppose a complete smoking ban in public places like the recently approved ban in Bavaria ?"

52% Yes
45% No

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20100710_OTS0010/profil-jeder-zweite-fuer-rauchverbot-in-lokalen

There`s also the federal elections poll by Gallup for Ö24:

35% SPÖ
33% ÖVP
18% FPÖ
11% Greens
  2% BZÖ
  1% Others

Direct vote for Chancellor:

35% Faymann (SPÖ)
32% Pröll (ÖVP)

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20100710_OTS0012/oesterreich-umfrage-spoe-baut-vorsprung-auf-oevp-aus-fpoe-verliert

And a new federal Karmasin Motivforschung poll for the Profil newspaper:

34% SPÖ
33% ÖVP
19% FPÖ
11% Greens
  2% BZÖ
  1% Others

Direct vote for Chancellor:

26% Faymann (SPÖ)
23% Pröll (ÖVP)
  7% Strache (FPÖ)
  6% Glawischnig (Greens)

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20100710_OTS0018/profil-umfrage-spoe-vor-oevp-faymann-vor-proell

[Tender Branson]

The "Profil" poll by Karmasin has more detailed numbers on abolishing the compulsory military service in Austria:

48% Abolish
42% Retain
10% Undecided

"If the compulsory military service is abolished, would you favor or oppose creating a mandatory social service ?"

83% Favor (47% favor a mandatory "Social Year", 36% favor a mandatory 6-month civilian service)
13% Oppose
  4% Undecided

"If the compulsory military service is abolished and a mandatory social service is created, would you favor or oppose requiring women to serve in that social service ?"

64% Favor
29% Oppose
  7% Undecided

"What do you think is the main task of the Austrian military ?"

80% Natural disaster management
15% National Defence  
  2% Foreign Deployments
  3% Undecided

http://www.ots.at/pressemappe/179/profil-redaktion-gmbh

[Tender Branson]

New Vienna state elections poll by Gallup for Ö24:



47% is the treshold for an absolute seat majority for the SPÖ.

If that`s not working for the SPÖ, they will enter a coalition with the Greens or the ÖVP.

[Tender Branson]

Someone from the Social Democratic Party just visited the Atlas Forum ...



Seems that they have their own internet provider ...

[Tender Branson]

New Gallup/Ö24 poll for the September Styria state elections:

40% (-2%)  SPÖ
37% (-2%)  ÖVP
10% (+5%) FPÖ
  6% (+1%) Greens
  6%   (nc)   Communists
  1% (-1%)  BZÖ

Gov. Voves (SPÖ) also has a 7-point lead against his ÖVP-challenger in the direct vote for Governor.

http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/SPOe-ueberholt-OeVP-in-der-Steiermark-0743830.ece

[Tender Branson]

That would be a great result for the 3 parties of the Left in Styria, mostly because the 2005 result was already very favorable to them.

The ÖVP back then, after having been in power since WW2, suffered from a scandal, the FPÖ and BZÖ were weak because of the split just a year earlier.

The SPÖ took the governorship for the first time since 1945, by gaining about 10% from the 2000 elections, the Communists (KPÖ) under veteran Graz KPÖ politician Ernest Kaltenegger also got their best result ever in the state and the Greens did just lose slightly.

In the meantime, Kaltenegger has retired and the KPÖ is now headed by Claudia Klimt-Weithaler. But it looks like Kaltenegger`s legacy can be continued by her, because she - like him - also has a mainly populist focus, like spending half of her salary each month (5000€) to help out poor people in Styria (this is done by all Communist state MP´s), as well as trashing big companies for throwing out people during the crisis. The KPÖ also wants to introduce the 35-hour-week with full pay, the implementation of the 14-time basic income of 750€ (will only be paid 12 times in Styria), equal women pay and the fight against gambling.

[Tender Branson]

A new federal poll by Gallup for Ö24:

33% (+4) SPÖ
30% (+4) ÖVP
20% (+2) FPÖ
12% (+2) Greens
  2%  (-9) BZÖ
  3%  (-3) Others

63% for the SPÖVP government (+8). I think we are one of the few countries where the government is doing better during the economic crisis.

Direct vote for Chancellor:

36% Werner Faymann (SPÖ)
32% Josef Pröll (ÖVP)

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20100724_OTS0030/oesterreich-umfrage-spoe-liegt-bereits-3-prozent-vor-oevp

[minionofmidas]

Lol, what's happened to the BZÖ? I can has Carinthia subsample?

[Tender Branson]

Lol, what's happened to the BZÖ? I can has Carinthia subsample?

I think you know what happened ...

I guess they won´t even get 10% anymore in Carinthia.

But from the poll you can see where the 2008 BZÖ voters likely have gone ...

[minionofmidas]

Lol, what's happened to the BZÖ? I can has Carinthia subsample?

I think you know what happened ...

I guess they won´t even get 10% anymore in Carinthia.

Didn't they win that state election big without Haider? Have they been governing dreadfully and infighting nonstop ever since, or what?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

No, I can't. That was why I was wondering. They might have largely gone FPÖ and then dispersed to the majors at the same pace as the FPÖ voters... or they might be going back to Carinthia's SPÖ roots at a higher-than-average clip... or given how the state has grown and filled with right voting skibunny airheads of either gender since the times when its Socialism made perfect sense (which ended before the Socialist voting ended, really...) they might also be going to the ÖVP at a higher-than-average clip.

So yeah. We really need a Carinthia poll.

[Tender Branson]

Lol, what's happened to the BZÖ? I can has Carinthia subsample?

I think you know what happened ...

I guess they won´t even get 10% anymore in Carinthia.

Didn't they win that state election big without Haider? Have they been governing dreadfully and infighting nonstop ever since, or what?

They won the 2009 state elections, because it was a sympathy vote for Haider and because the other parties are also weak and also involved in infights. The SPÖ there has now the what ? 3rd leader ? in a few years. The ÖVP is divided by folks who want to get out of the FPK-ÖVP coalition, because of the incompetence surrounding the Hypo bank desaster, and folks who want to continues the course. The FPK and the FPÖ have re-united, but have pissed off many former members who see Strache or Scheuch as the devil or vice-versa. The BZÖ has just reformed there and the Greens are unimportant, getting about 8% now, but only half that in the real elections.

Read this:

http://wahlen.wienerzeitung.at/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3858&Alias=wzo&cob=469473

But from the poll you can see where the 2008 BZÖ voters likely have gone ...

No, I can't. That was why I was wondering. They might have largely gone FPÖ and then dispersed to the majors at the same pace as the FPÖ voters... or they might be going back to Carinthia's SPÖ roots at a higher-than-average clip... or given how the state has grown and filled with right voting skibunny airheads of either gender since the times when its Socialism made perfect sense (which ended before the Socialist voting ended, really...) they might also be going to the ÖVP at a higher-than-average clip.

So yeah. We really need a Carinthia poll.

New Carinthia state elections poll by Gallup for the newspaper "Woche":

FPK: 31% (+27%)
SPÖ: 31% (+2%)
ÖVP: 22% (+5%)
Greens: 8% (+3%)
BZÖ: 8% (-37%)

Direct vote for Governor:

Gerhard Dörfler (FPK-Inc.): 36%
Josef Martinz (ÖVP): 30%
Peter Kaiser (SPÖ): 27%
Rolf Holub (Greens): 7%

http://regionaut.woche.at/klagenfurt/politik/blaurot-gleichauf-vp-and-gruen-legen-zu-d8259.html

The moral of the story is that we won´t know whats the landscape there until the next elections or the ones after that, because so much stuff is going on there right now. Polls there changed rapidely over the past months.

[Tender Branson]

A very contrasting poll to the one mentioned earlier today has just come out by Market for "Standard":

28% (+2) ÖVP
26%  (-3) SPÖ
24% (+6) FPÖ
12% (+2) Greens
  7%  (-4) BZÖ
  3%  (-3) Others

Direct vote for Chancellor:

23% Faymann (SPÖ)
18% Pröll (ÖVP)
13% Strache (FPÖ)
  7% Glawischnig (Greens)
  4% Bucher (BZÖ)

http://derstandard.at/1277338892096/STANDARD-Umfrage-Proell-faellt-bei-Kanzlerfrage-weit-zurueck-OeVP-bleibt-vorn

Strange, both Gallup and Market had good results ahead of the 2008 Election. Now they differ by a great margin. Market has the Far-Right 10% higher than Gallup and its the reverse situation with the government. Too bad there's no poll from OGM, which is the best pollster, but they only poll before a major election.

[Tender Branson]

Just looked up the Austrian election calendar for the next years.

There will be no federal or statewide election here in 2011 and 2012 ...

The next big elections will be in 2013 (Parliament, Lower Austria & Tyrol state elections).

That means I can focus exclusively on the US and elsewhere starting after the September/October Styria and Vienna state elections.

[Tender Branson]

New Styria state elections poll:

[Tender Branson]

Report: Late right-winger Haider stashed millions in Liechtenstein

Vienna - The finances of late Austrian populist Jörg Haider were under scrutiny Saturday when a magazine reported that investigators uncovered 5 million euros (6.5 million dollars) the right-wing politician had parked in Liechtenstein.

Twelve shell companies set up by Haider were uncovered in the tax haven as part of an investigation into the 2007 sale of the Austrian Hypo Group Alpe Adria to the German Bayern-LB for possible cases of corruption.

The bank is headquartered in Carinthia province, where Haider was governor until his fatal car accident in 2008.

The politician's Liechtenstein funds originally amounted to 45 million euros, the weekly profil wrote, citing unnamed investigators.

A probe is underway to find out were the money came from and how it was spent.

In the Hypo case, one of the questions is whether Haider's Alliance for the Future of Austria pocketed bribes to green-light the deal.

Throughout his career, Haider was known for his flashy lifestyle and expensive election campaigns. Besides the salary from his public offices, he also had income from a large forest area he owned.

Financing of parties and politicians are difficult to monitor in Austria, owing to the country's relatively weak laws on political funding.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/337398,haider-stashed-millions-liechtenstein.html

[Filuwaúrdjan]

How shocking.

[Tender Branson]

How shocking.

Haha, yeah ...

[Tender Branson]

New July unemployment numbers have been released today:

211.659 (-20.728 compared with July 2009, or -8.9%)

Persons in a training course by the Labor Agency (technically unemployed):

62.084 (+5.887 compared with July 2009, or +10.5%)

Unemployment rate (national method, doesn´t include self-employed): 5.7% (-0.6%)
Unemployment rate (inkl. persons in courses): 7.3% (-0.4%)
Unemployment rate (inkl. self-employed in the labor force): 5.0%
Unemployment rate (inkl. self-employed in the labor force & persons in courses): 6.4%

[Tender Branson]

I´m really interested now to find out how many people are stuffed by labor agencies into training courses in Germany. People who are in these labor agency courses basically write job application letters for a couple of hours each week and for that they get some money from the labor agencies. So they are nothing more than unemployed. Let´s see if I can find numbers for Germany, because I´m sure they are not showing up in the official unemployment numbers - just like here ...

[minionofmidas]

I´m really interested now to find out how many people are stuffed by labor agencies into training courses in Germany. People who are in these labor agency courses basically write job application letters for a couple of hours each week and for that they get some money from the labor agencies. So they are nothing more than unemployed. Let´s see if I can find numbers for Germany, because I´m sure they are not showing up in the official unemployment numbers - just like here ...

No, they do. And they don't get anything extra for it. But can get their dole docked if they refuse.

[Tender Branson]

Speculations about an alleged 45 million Euros owned by late Freedom Party (FPÖ) chief Jörg Haider on Liechtenstein bank accounts continue with the diary of a former ally referring to money transfers.

Ex-FPÖ MP Walter Meischberger claimed notes of his which Austrian newspapers got hold of were "not from a diary but just a notepad" in which he kept a record of various matters mentioned in conversations as well as rumours. Magazines and dailies printed parts of the handwritten records mentioning things such as "45 million Euros!!!"

Liechtenstein prosecutors however meanwhile dismissed reports claiming Haider had access to bank accounts which once held 45 million Euros.

Austrian magazine profil broke the story over the weekend by reporting that financial investigators from the principality cooperated with colleagues from Austria and Germany to discover the accounts. The political weekly claimed the accounts now only contain around five million Euros since most of the money was lost in risky investment deals. Profil journalist Michael Nikbakhsh said today he was surprised by the statement of Liechtenstein officials since he had been in touch with them via e-mail over the issue several times.

Haider’s sister Ursula Haubner, who once headed the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) which was founded by Haider five years ago, said she was unaware of alleged secret bank accounts managed by her late brother. The current head of the BZÖ’s Upper Austrian branch stressed she doubted the claims. "Jörg Haider always worked hard for the people. I’m not aware of such bank accounts, but I doubt their existence," she said.

Several former close aides of Haider refused to comment on the allegations, while others vehemently defended the right-wing politician who died in a car crash in October 2008.

http://austrianindependent.com/news/Politics/2010-08-04/4010/Confusion_as_ex-Haider_ally%27s_diary_emerges

Austria’s lax party donation laws are to be changed following the alleged discovery of bank accounts holding 45 million Euros by late right-wing spearhead Jörg Haider.

Reports have it that financial investigators found accounts managed by the founder of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) in Liechtenstein, with some media speculating that the money came from the families of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

A task group formed by representatives of all five parties in the federal parliament is set to meet after the summer break in a bid to change the Austrian party donation rules considered as negligent and careless by most political analysts.

Parties must report donations higher than 7,260 Euros to the Federal Audit Office (RH) – but do not face consequences if they fail to do so. Green chiefs have called for a change in the law for years over concerns money was being laundered that way. They also said all donations should be made public so voters know how much money parties receive – and from whom.

Government coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), reportedly rake in most donations.

Freedom Party (FPÖ) general secretary Herbert Kickl suggested Monday that the new law must enforce parties to give out information about donations as soon as they receive them – and not months after a crucial election.

ÖVP Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner signalised the will to make existing rules stricter today.

The Austrian party donation law is considered the least tough ruling in Europe.

http://austrianindependent.com/news/Politics/2010-08-03/3968/Tougher_party_donations_law_planned_over_%27%8045mn_Haider_accounts%27

[Tender Branson]

Today`s Profil newspaper reports that Jörg Haider and Ewald Stadler (ex-FPÖ, now BZÖ) received 5 Mio. $ from Saddam Hussein in 2002.

http://www.profil.at/articles/1031/560/274862/joerg-haiders-geldgeschaefte-diktator-saddam-hussein

Haider and Stadler went to Iraq in 2002 to discuss with top Iraqi government members the possibility to treat Iraqi children with cancer and other deseases in Austria. While Haider met with Saddam as evidenced in the picture below, Stadler didn´t meet with him.

 

The Profil report is based on *shady* Iraqi Interior Ministry reports and Stadler - the only one of the 3 who´s still living - has referred to the Profil reports today as "bullsh**t". According to the reports, Stadler received 3.75 Mio. $ and Haider 1.25 Mio. $

There´s also new development in the Haider Liechtenstein bank accounts affair, where he was allegedly stuffing 45 Mio. $, according to Profil newspaper. Even though the Profil journalists have emails with the Liechtenstein authorities, these authorities have now said that they are not aware that Haider had any accounts in Liechtenstein. And so the (conspiracy) story goes on ...

Don´t know if the Haider-hunters (Profil, ORF, Greens) will have more ammo, but until now they are just fishing in the dark and nothing is proven yet.

The latest poll by IMAS out today seems to have no impact on polling numbers, the FPÖ is at 22% and the BZÖ at 7% - which is even higher than in previous surveys when they had 2-5%.

...


Austrian bishop: Love Parade sinful rebellion against creation

SALZBURG, Austria - An Austrian bishop describes the techno festival that led to 21 deaths and 500 injuries as a sinful event and indirectly links the deaths to God's punishment.

Salzburg's Roman Catholic bishop, Andreas Laun says that the Love Parade and participation in it is "a rebellion against creation and against God's order, are sins and an invitation to sin!"



Writing on the German-language website Kath.net, Laun warns against judging the dead and saying their death was God's punishment.

At the same time, he indirectly links the deaths to God's right to punish apostates — those who turn their back on the true faith.

The tragedy occurred July 24, when crowds of people streaming into the festival in the German city of Duisburg surged through an jammed entry tunnel.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/austrian-bishop-love-parade-sinful-rebellion-against-creation-100182924.html

...

Hmmm ...

[Tender Branson]

Haider ally compares Austrian papers with Nazis

Former allies of late right-wing spearhead Jörg Haider have launched an unprecedented attack on Austrian media over their coverage of alleged secret bank accounts.

News weekly profil claimed on the weekend that ex-Freedom Party (FPÖ) boss Haider stashed around 45 million Euros in more than 40 different accounts in the principality bordering Austria.

The magazine wrote that Austrian, German and Liechtenstein investigators had discovered the accounts as they examined corruption and embezzlement claims concerning the sale of Carinthian Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA) bank. Haider, who died in a boozy car crash around two years ago, was governor of Carinthia for many years.

HGAA was snapped up by Germany’s BayernLB (Bayerische Landesbank) in 2007. The Austrian government saw itself pressed to nationalise HGAA last year to avoid its collapse over soaring debts.

An increasing number of FPÖ officials and representatives of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), the party founded by Haider in 2005, expressed doubts over the existence of accounts in Liechtenstein after prosecutors in the principality denied such discoveries.

BZÖ Styria chief Gerald Grosz now caused outrage among journalists by comparing Austrian media to infamous Third Reich newspaper "Der Stürmer". Grosz also said some newspapers, TV stations and magazines would "hunt Haider as the Nazis hunted Jewish people in the Third Reich".

He said: "Journalists who spread dirty lies despite knowing they are wrong aren’t a jot better than Nazi era propaganda masterminds. Some newsrooms apparently are utterly mad."

The Union of Austrian Newspapers (VÖZ) reacted by calling on the BZÖ MP to step down today (Thurs).

Grosz claimed more and more accusations have turned out to be incorrect over the past few days, while former Haider spokesman Stefan Petzner said the whole issue was "nothing but a campaign by left-wing prosecutors and investigators and a bid to posthumously damage Haider’s excellent reputation."

Uwe Scheuch, head of the Carinthian Freedom Party (FPK), demanded an apology from "scandal-producing journalists", while other former political partners of Haider said the whole story was nothing but an attempt to create strong headlines and fill the pages during the summer season.

Meanwhile, former Constitutional Court (VfGH) head Karl Korinek warned people would lose their trust in officials and the law due to "too long" procedures over possible business scandals. Korinek claimed today Austria’s justice sector had too few and badly paid employees.

Former Federal Audit Office (RH) boss Franz Fiedler criticised there has been too little progress with investigations if high-profile businessmen or political decision-makers were suspected of malpractices.

People’s Party (ÖVP) Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner said in a first reaction: "I’ve had enough of the permanent attacks. That has to end."

Bandion-Ortner has come under fire over the past few months as public prosecutors and judges warned they would soon be incapable to handling a soaring number of cases while staff figures dwindle. The minister – a former judge – agreed to meet for talks later this year after unionists threatened with strikes.

Speculations over where the allegedly discovered money could come from meanwhile continue.

Some reports suggest the sums could be donations from the families of Muammar al-Gaddafi and late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Haider – a close friend of the Libyan leader’s son Saif al-Gaddafi – met both politicians several times. He claimed that his visits to the countries helped Carinthian companies to several lucrative deals.

http://austrianindependent.com/news/Politics/2010-08-05/4036/Haider_ally_compares_Austrian_papers_with_Nazis

[Tender Branson]

The BZÖ is firing heavy against the newspaper Profil today:

BZÖ glaubt an Fälschung

Nach Überzeugung des BZÖ sind die Redakteure des Nachrichtenmagazins "Profil" "bei dem Haider-Stadler Dokument ganz offensichtlich auf eine plumpe Fälschung hereingefallen". Tatsache sei, dass - "wie in diesem Dokument falsch beinhaltet - weder Jörg Haider und Ewald Stadler im Zeitraum von 3.5.2002 bis 6.5.2002 Saddam Hussein getroffen" hätten, heißt es in einer BZÖ-Aussendung am Samstag.

"Die Profil-Redakteure hätten nur im öffentlich erhältlichen Buch von Jörg Haider 'Zu Gast bei Saddam. Im Reich des Bösen' nachlesen müssen, um zu dieser Erkenntnis zu gelangen", so das BZÖ. Der damalige Kärntner Landeshauptmann war im Februar 2002 nach Bagdad gereist und von Staatschef Saddam Hussein empfangen worden. Bei seiner darauffolgenden Irak-Reise im Mai 2002 war Haider dagegen nach eigener Aussage mit Außenminister Naji Sabri, nicht aber mit Saddam Hussein zusammengetroffen

Dem BZÖ sei auch mitgeteilt worden, heißt es in der Aussendung weiter, "dass dieses Dokument mit Behauptungen über angebliche Millionenflüsse von Saddam Hussein an Jörg Haider und Ewald Stadler bereits Ende 2008 einer Partei und einigen Medien angeboten wurde, welche dieses sofort als Fälschung enttarnt und deshalb nicht veröffentlicht haben. Nur das Profil ist Jahre später in der Panik nach dem Haider-Konten-Flop darauf reingefallen."

http://derstandard.at/1280984204376/Bei-Besuch-Haiders-Besuch-im-Irak-2002-Fuenf-Millionen-Dollar-von-Saddam-fuer-Haider

(Translation to English after I come back from playing pool.)

[minionofmidas]

Writing on the German-language website Kath.net, Laun warns against judging the dead and saying their death was God's punishment.

At the same time, he indirectly links the deaths to God's right to punish apostates — those who turn their back on the true faith.

Oddly fitting that this post was also about the late Jörg Haider...