Austrian Elections & Politics 4.0

[rob in cal]

  So I read elsewhere that NEOS is in favor of a national initiative process (by which I mean that if an issue gets enough signatures there is a mandatory referendum held on that issue).  This means that there is a two thirds majority to put this into law. Hope they get this done.

[rob in cal]

   Tender, does Preuner's victory in Salzburg indicate that as of yet there is no left-wing mobilization against the soon to be sworn in Kurz government?

[rob in cal]

  Any ideas on how Kurz will handle the Brexit issue when Austria has the EU presidency?

[rob in cal]

  I was reading the direct democracy plank of the agreement and if I understood it correctly it proposes that in 2022 the parliament will pass an amendment allowing for a referendum on an initiative if it gets 900k signatures. If parliament doesn't pass it with the required 2/3 majority the government would put it to a referendum (so a referendum on whether to have more referenda).  Assuming the proposal passes it also means that the parliament could put a counter proposal on the ballot as well.  Also, a majority must vote for it, and one third of eligible voters is the required support threshold as well.  Is that accurate Tender?
   

[rob in cal]

  Also, Tender do you think Kickl is the right man for the FPO to have put in as interior minister, in terms of enforcing border laws, deportations, and other things related to less illegal immigration?

[rob in cal]

  I find it very interesting that the protests are so muted.  Perhaps some of it is because the coalition talks were run very professionally and the coalition document seems pretty mainstream?
  Biggest disappointment to me is the huge 14% signature requirement for an initiative to get put on the ballot for a referendum.  This seems pretty high to me.

[rob in cal]

   I like how the swearing in ceremony helped breakdown some stereotypes.  Its the old guy whose on the left, and the younger politicians, many of whom look very telegenic and presentable, who represent a government on the right.

[rob in cal]

  The Israeli move is extra unusual in that PM Netanyahu recently praised the Hungarian government for its opposition to non-European immigration, and I believe it was Strache who said that if Europe retains its ethnic, religious, cultural heritage, that that is a good thing for Israel.

[rob in cal]

  Wow, pretty nice to see one of my pet intrests (national initiative and referendum) actually being polled as to support level. Also the support level of the overall coalition policies and goals shows that pretty much most of the OVP and FPO electorate are pleased with the coalition so far.

[rob in cal]

   I've been researching traveling to Europe soon (summer of 2019), and Austria has so many cool places to visit.  Crazy thing is, few Americans ever go south of the "sound of music" line, visiting Salzburg and Vienna a lot, but ignoring places like Carinthia, Styria, Vorarlberg.  Even before the tax cut Austria was already a nice bargain compared to Switzerland.

[rob in cal]

   Tender, did either Ludwig or Schieder have a clear position on the new Kurz government?  Was Schieder more strongly opposed perhaps?

[rob in cal]

  Just love the huge contrast among the Greens and FPO by demographics.  Funny though that when it comes to young people they both do well.

[rob in cal]

   Tender, with so many students with a moslem background in the Vienna schools, that would suggest that many (most parts?) of Vienna, not just Favoriten, are being ethnically and socially transformed.  Do we have an ethnic/religious map of Vienna as whole?

[rob in cal]

  The article about Kurz mentions that the new Italian government is composed of populists of the right and left.  I wouldn't call 5 star of the left, more of the center. Also interesting is that in Austria's case so far, the FPO still does well even with Kurz moving in their direction on the migration issue, so in the Austrian case is it that had Kurz not moved the OVP closer to the FPO, the FPO would now be the largest party?

[rob in cal]

  I'm intrigued by the 28% of SPO voters who are somewhat approving of the government.

[rob in cal]

  Tender, I think the deportation numbers are a key measurement for the FPO.  If they can deliver on this, plus a big reduction on new asylum cases, , they will have actually given their electorate much of what that electorate wanted by voting FPO.  Keep up the work on this, stay out of stupid neo-Nazi type scandals, and the FPO is probably in good shape for the next election.

[rob in cal]

  How come no non-European countries are wanting to also take some of these migrants? If in fact the long term effect of having such migrants is a positive one would thing that countries from Lebanon to Thailand, from Zimbabwe to Paraguay would be wanting to get in line for their fair share.

[rob in cal]

  Tender, I wonder if Kurz, not Trump, is the model that people internationally on the right should be emulating and learning from as an example of proper governance. His personality, his leadership and rhetoric, all of it so refreshing compared with the Donald.  New slogan for the day, the future is Kurz, not Trump.

[rob in cal]

  Crabcake, fair point about using Lebanon as a country in my list of countries not participating in refugee settlements, its actually amazing that they've been able to host as many refugees as they have without it destabilizing their politics too much.
   Tender, is there something special about Zell am See that attracts Arab visitors?

[rob in cal]

  I like the idea of them being allowed to stay until they have finished their apprenticeship, and then even some seed money for them to get established in their home countries. 

[rob in cal]

   Tender, are there certain towns, regions in Austria where a lot of these super wealthy people live? And what part of Vienna do they like?

[rob in cal]

  I think the better approach was when Italy paid Libya's Gadhafi to keep a tight lid on its southern border.

[rob in cal]

  Does the article say what the most common non-German languages spoken are? I'm guessing Turkish, Arabic and Polish?

[rob in cal]

  according to Wikipedia, Wels foreign background population is Bosnian, Turk, Croat, Serb in that order, but what kind of Bosnians and Croats?

[rob in cal]

  Tender, thanks for Vienna chart.  It seems that in terms of Turkish vs former Yugoslavia, they usually correlate together, so where theres a lot of one group, usually a lot of the other as well, instead of say, Turks in one part of Vienna, former Yugoslavs in another.