Austrian Elections & Politics - Version 1.0

[Tender Branson]

"Others" at 4% probably means 2% BZÖ and 1% for KPÖ and Pirates each, taking into account the election results.

Ohhh the fun, having both the TS and the BZÖ @ only 2% ...

[Leftbehind]

Blatantly just listing pretty wimminz back there, Tender.

[Tender Branson]

Blatantly just listing pretty wimminz back there, Tender.

Sorry, I don't understand your slang ...

(you need to remember that German is my native language)

What ?

[Leftbehind]

Blatantly just listing pretty wimminz back there, Tender.

Sorry, I don't understand your slang ...

(you need to remember that German is my native language)

What ?

lol wimminz = women.

[Tender Branson]

Blatantly just listing pretty wimminz back there, Tender.

Sorry, I don't understand your slang ...

(you need to remember that German is my native language)

What ?

lol wimminz = women.

Wimminz ...

Well, now I get it.

The Parliament badly needs an infusion of hotness anyway ...

[bmw1503]

The complete collapse of Team Stronach sort of reminds me of what happened to the List Pim Fortuyn after the 2002 elections in the Netherlands.  Except, in stead of being killed, their leader has to flee back to Canada like Cinderella before her carriage turns into a pumpkin...I mean, has to pay Austrian taxes...

Although obviously the sample size is pretty small, it would seem that a lot of the former Stronach voters were either protest voters (and then to FPO) or low-tax/free-market types (moved on to NEOS)

[Tender Branson]

BZÖ in Lower Austria is dissolved:

http://kurier.at/politik/inland/bzoe-niederoesterreich-aufgeloest/31.498.911

Ewald Stadler, the LA BZÖ-leader, was previously expelled from the party because of "party damaging actions" (strongly criticizing Austrian BZÖ-leader Bucher for the election loss and demanding his resignation).

Stadler, who is also the only BZÖ Member of the EU Parliament and very "Jörg Haider-ish" far right, has said that the Lower Austria BZÖ is done because the party cannot go on with the "liberal" course of the federal BZÖ ...

Nonetheless, the federal BZÖ wants to run in the 2014 EU Parliament elections ... (just without Stadler, who said he will retire from politics).

[Tender Branson]

Which parties will run in the EU-Parliament elections next year ?

The "Presse" has some answers in a new article:

http://diepresse.com/home/politik/eu/1466244/Europawahl_Kleinparteien-hoffen-Team-Stronach-ueberlegt

Definitely running: SPÖ, ÖVP, FPÖ, Greens, NEOS, BZÖ

"Lean towards running": HP Martin, Team Stronach

No word so far: KPÖ, Pirates

...

Martin and BZÖ said that they fear the FPÖ would win the election or do well if they are not running. Especially the Martin voters (18%) from 2009 could end up voting for the FPÖ if he doesn't run again. Therefore he's leaning towards running again, he told the Presse.

[Tender Branson]

Election campaign spending by party from July to Sept. 29 (election day):



Election law says that parties can only spend 7 Mio. € each after the election is officially called.

Which means the Team Stronach will definitely have to pay a penalty, while the SPÖ will have to wait and see.

The campaign expenses will be examined next year by the Austrian Federal Accounting Office and the SPÖ argues that they have "not spent more than 7 Mio.", because the study from Focus Research does not take into account discounts for the party when they ordered posters, TV ads, Internet ads etc.

TS also spent the most per voter: Almost 40€.

A total of 33 Mio. € was spent by all parties in the 3 months of the "hot campaign".

Which would equal ca. 1.6 Bio. $ in US-terms.

[Tender Branson]

The Kurier has a new poll from OGM about which current cabinet members should remain in the next government and which members should go and be replaced:

(right-click for huge version)



http://kurier.at/politik/inland/umfrage-wen-die-waehler-wieder-in-der-regierung-wollen/31.676.018

[Tender Branson]

First tangible leaks coming out of the SPÖVP coalition talks:

Apparently, SPÖVP wants to quell the voter discontent ahead of the EU elections by going into the offense: Proposing a double-budget for 2014/15 and ending the decade-long school reform disagreements by presenting a compromise which means more "autonomy for the schools" (schools can decide on their own if they want to transform into all-day long comprehensive schools or if they remain as secondary schools without an all-day school form). For this, the SGA (school community council that represents students, teachers and parents in each school) will be given a 50%+ decision opportunity to impose changes for their school vs. 2/3 majority right now. Other reforms include more measures in the pre-school areas, political science and "ethics" (as an alternative choice for "religion" in all schools) as mandatory subjects. Teachers (currently state or federally-employed civil servants) will become employees of each school and the headmaster can hire and fire them.

http://kurier.at/politik/inland/erste-inhalte-aus-verhandlungen-grossprojekte-in-der-pipeline/31.673.927

[Tender Branson]

The Team Stronach and the BZÖ collapse, what happens ? Correct: FPÖ rises to new record level.

New Market poll for the "Standard" today:

25% FPÖ [+4.5]
25% SPÖ [-1.8]
23% ÖVP [-1.0]
12% Greens [-0.4]
  7% NEOS [+2.0]
  2% BZÖ [-1.5]
  6% Others (incl. Team Stronach)

http://derstandard.at/1381369204117/Wuerde-jetzt-gewaehlt-waere-FPOe-so-stark-wie-SPOe

...

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[Tender Branson]

The FPÖ has gone from a low of 17% in early August to 25% now.

The Team Stronach has lost about 5-6% in these two months, while the rest of the FPÖ-gain probably comes equally from SPÖ/ÖVP and BZÖ.

It seems the Greens have lost 2-3% to NEOS, while SPÖ and ÖVP also lost 1% each.

[Tender Branson]

The Salzburg-SPÖ is going into suicide-mode:

Extra Pay Demanded By SPÖ Boss in Salzburg

Salzburg's Social Democrat boss Walter Steidl has sparked heated debate after he demanded his salary be increased by 50% despite the fact that his party lost massively in the last election and also was involved in speculative financial investments that allegedly cost the region millions.

The politician who is currently on a salary of 7.752 Euros per month as the party boss wants to get an extra €3000 a month from his party despite the poor performance in the election and the disastrous financial speculation in tax payers money.

The payment would put him on roughly the same salary as the vice governor of the region which he used to have. The vice governor gets a salary of 14.688 which is paid 14 times a year.

In the last election on 5 May the Social Democrats (SPÖ) saw the number of MPs that they had in the regional government fall from 15 to 9. That has meant a substantial drop in income because the payment to the party is based on how many mandates that hold.

Yet while the loss of income has meant savings being made across the board – Steidl has disappointed the rank and file with his lack of solidarity by demanding his own salary be increased as everybody else faces the risk of cuts.

The chamber of workers director Gerhard Schmidt (SPÖ) said it created a really bad impression and added: "I have already made my thoughts on the matter very clear."

Steidl said the increase was perfectly appropriate and added: "after taxes all I have got left each month is a mere 3.800 Euros. Others are laughing at me at that amount.

He added he was campaigning not just for himself but also for the rights of his successors to be fairly paid.

http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2013-10-18/49972/Extra_Pay_Demanded_By_SP%D6_Boss_in_Salzburg

...

The emphasis here is on "SOCIAL" Democratic Party leader ...

Everyone I've talked to so far is pretty pissed off about it, considering the average wages in the state are ca. 1500€ a month (net).

[Tender Branson]

Good news for the budget:

(Reuters) - Telekom Austria will pay around 1 billion euros for new telecoms spectrum in an auction that will net around 2 billion euros for the government, a newspaper reported.

Austria's WirtschaftsBlatt, citing well-informed sources, said T-Mobile Austria would pay 700 million euros and Hutchison Whampoa's H3G would hand over 300 million.

Reuters reported last month that bids had reached around 2 billion euros in the auction, which began on September 9 and had targeted at least 526 million.

Similar auctions in much larger European countries have brought in 4.4 billion euros in Germany, 3.6 billion in France, 2.34 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) in Britain and 3.8 billion euros in the Netherlands.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/21/us-austria-telecoms-auction-idUKBRE99K0I420131021

Good news, because this year the HYPO bank needs another 1 Bio. € in bailout money (and probably 5 Bio. € more in the next 5 years).

[njwes]

:-O   7.752 --> 3.800!? dem Euro taxes!

[Tender Branson]

:-O   7.752 --> 3.800!? dem Euro taxes!

It's actually about 3.876€ that he gets per month in net income, from 7.752 gross income.

Wages in Austria are paid 14 times a year, but the tax rate for the 13th and 14th wage are much lower than for the regular 12 wages. Which means his monthly wage is ca. 4700€

The top income tax rate in Austria is 50%.

For example in Sweden it is higher at 57.7% (max).

BTW: The SPÖ has now also agreed to pay him an additional 2000€ per month for his party leadership post (instead of the 3000€).

[Tender Branson]

Frank Stronach to "pull out of the party and out of politics" over the next year:

http://kurier.at/politik/inland/kurze-politkarriere-frank-stronach-in-einem-jahr-ziehe-ich-mich-zurueck/32.147.798

He says he will only "advise the party" after he leaves the party ...

[Tender Branson]

2 new polls out:

Karmasin for Profil

26% SPÖ
23% FPÖ
23% ÖVP
12% Greens
  8% NEOS
  3% TS
  5% Others

http://www.profil.at/articles/1343/560/368492/umfrage-fpoe-oevp

Gallup for Ö24



http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/OeVP-verringert-Abstand-zur-SPOe/120196339

[DC Al Fine]

TS dead as expected. BZO is in others... Lol.

NEOS seems to be the sole heir to the free market movement. They should improve their result next election.

[Tender Branson]

The new National Council for 2013-18 will be sworn in today.

The 1st session of the new legislative term with the swearing in of new members incl. Frank Stronach (he's present as an MP, yes) and NEOS will start in 5 minutes.

Live stream (starts at 10am):

http://megatv.to/orf-2

http://tvthek.orf.at/live/7002077

Seat plan of the new NC:

[Tender Branson]

The session starts with the national anthem ...

[Tender Branson]

The new MPs will be sworn in now ...

[Tender Branson]

Alphabetical roll call ...

Barbara Rosenkranz, Susanne Winter ugh ...

[Tender Branson]

Frank Stronach and Matthias Strolz (NEOS) now sworn in ...