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

[Tender Branson]

New Salzburg state elections poll:

37%  (-2) SPÖ
35%  (-2) ÖVP
15% (+2) FPÖ
11% (+4) Greens
  1%  (-3) BZÖ
  1% (+1) Others

http://regionaut.meinbezirk.at/wals-siezenheim/politik/bb-politbarometer-spoe-setzt-sich-wieder-an-die-spitze-der-regierung-m547015,76859.html

[Boris]

Tender, what does this poster mean:



(taken with my cell phone, probably while drunk, so the quality isn't that great)

[Boris]

The rise of the far right in Austria is troubling.

It's not troubling at all. Have you been to Austria, dude? The kids here - like 2nd graders - ride the subway to school. Could you imagine that in Chicago? And I can hold a beer in my hand while talking to customs agents. Can you imagine how much US agents would flip a sh**t if that were the case? This forum is absolutely retarded when it comes to deriving what a location is like based upon election results. Give me the strongest FPÖ bastion in Austria over Knott County, Kentucky any day of the week. 

[Franzl]

The rise of the far right in Austria is troubling.

It's not troubling at all. Have you been to Austria, dude? The kids here - like 2nd graders - ride the subway to school. Could you imagine that in Chicago? And I can hold a beer in my hand while talking to customs agents. Can you imagine how much US agents would flip a sh**t if that were the case? This forum is absolutely retarded when it comes to deriving what a location is like based upon election results. Give me the strongest FPÖ bastion in Austria over Knott County, Kentucky any day of the week.  

I'm pretty sure I've been to Austria a lot more often than you have. And I agree with everything you wrote there. It's perfectly normal in Austria, Germany and a lot of places in Europe.

Everyday life in Europe is a lot more tolerant of things that you and I like to do.

Still doesn't mean the rise of the far right isn't troubling.

(Actually, I think I think it was in a thread we both posted in that I stated that Vienna and Munich are probably my favorite cities in the world....and indeed, I'm going to be moving from the Frankfurt area to Munich later this year, actually.)

[Franzl]

Tender, what does this poster mean:



(taken with my cell phone, probably while drunk, so the quality isn't that great)

The translation:

300,000 pigs are currently kept in body-sized cages for their entire lives. Annually, 1.3 million young pigs die under these conditions.

The SPÖ controlled Health Ministry, which is responsible for animal protection, wants to reduce the maximum time in these cages to 1.5 months but the ÖVP controlled Agriculture Ministry is trying to block even this slight improvement.

Please protest - now!

[Tender Branson]

The rise of the far right in Austria is troubling.

It's not troubling at all. Have you been to Austria, dude? The kids here - like 2nd graders - ride the subway to school. Could you imagine that in Chicago? And I can hold a beer in my hand while talking to customs agents. Can you imagine how much US agents would flip a sh**t if that were the case? This forum is absolutely retarded when it comes to deriving what a location is like based upon election results. Give me the strongest FPÖ bastion in Austria over Knott County, Kentucky any day of the week.  

Yeah, I think Vienna is not really comparable with Chicago when it comes to security.

Vienna has 1.7 Mio. people and something like 20 or 30 murders each year, while Chicago has 2.8 Mio. people but something like 300 murders each year.

So, driving with the subway to school is pretty much normal for school children, because their parents have to work or are not interested to drive them through Vienna when all the streets are congested in the morning.

The Vienna subways are also very secure, the SPÖ government last year introduced 2 police members to protect and drive in every night subway line.

Regarding the beer, why would the customs agent have any problem with a beer in hand as long as you are not completely drunk and a hooligan demolishing the airport ?

So, Boris, what else did you like/not like here and what do you think are the most important differences between Vienna and the US ?

[Franzl]

Alcohol in virtually all public locations (with the exception of bars and the like) is a rather big tabu in the U.S. and can lead to arrest.

Obviously very very unusual for people used to Germany and Austria.

[Tender Branson]

After 3 long weeks, we have a national poll again - by Gallup for Ö24:



Direct vote for Chancellor:



http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Regierung-im-Plus-FPOe-holt-SPOe-ein/30972741

[Tender Branson]

On Saturday, the annual FPÖ convention will take place in Graz.

Strache will be up for re-election and he will already announce his shadow cabinet for the 2013 election, in case the FPÖ wins the elections.

Strache mentioned Barbara Kappel as Minister for Economy, Herbert Kickl as Minister for Social Affairs and Harald Stefan as Minister for Justice.

Strache also said that he wants to become Chancellor and that he will never make the same mistake as the Haider-FPÖ in 1999/2000 and let the ÖVP get the Chancellor if the FPÖ is first or ahead of the ÖVP.

The FPÖ will also unveil a new 300 page party programme at the convention.

http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/FPOe-Parteitag-Strache-bringt-sein-Schattenkabinett/31116325

[Tender Branson]

One day before the FPÖ convention, there's a new poll out by OGM for Kurier:



"Do you trust the FPÖ to head the government ?"

35% Yes, 52% No, 13% Undecided

"Assuming the FPÖ is in the next government, do you think they have good people for government posts ?"

24% Yes, 63% No, 13% Undecided

"Which party position do you think does the FPÖ want compared with the Haider-era ?"

39% Center-Right Party
35% Far-Right Party
26% Undecided

(FPÖ voters only)

68% Center-Right Party
12% Far-Right Party
20% Undecided

http://kurier.at/nachrichten/3915085.php

[Tender Branson]

Today, the FPÖ convention took place in Graz and FPÖ-leader Strache was re-elected with more than 94% of the 700 delegates.

Only about 100 left-wing demonstrators turned out to protest the event.



Meanwhile a new Profil poll is out today:

27% FPÖ
27% SPÖ
24% ÖVP
14% Greens
  4% BZÖ
  4% Others

Direct vote for Chancellor:

23% Faymann (SPÖ)
20% Spindelegger (ÖVP)
12% Strache (FPÖ)
  5% Glawischnig (Greens)

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20110618_OTS0006/profil-umfrage-strache-erstmals-vorn

[Tender Branson]

These are the 10 new "commandments" of the FPÖ (deeply discussed in a 300 page book):

1. Freiheit gilt uns als höchstes Gut. Seit der bürgerlichen Revolution von 1848 dient unser Streben dem Ringen nach Freiheit und ihrer Verteidigung überall dort, wo Erreichtes wieder bedroht wird.

2. Wir sind dem Schutz unserer Heimat Österreich, unserer nationalen Identität und Eigenständigkeit sowie unserer natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen verpflichtet.

3. Die Freiheit der Bürger wird gewährleistet und geschützt durch den freiheitlichen Rechtsstaat und eine echte Solidargemeinschaft.

4. Die Familie als Gemeinschaft von Mann und Frau mit gemeinsamen Kindern ist die natürliche Keimzelle und Klammer für eine funktionierende Gesellschaft und garantiert zusammen mit der Solidarität der Generationen unsere Zukunftsfähigkeit.

5. Wir fördern Leistung in einer Marktwirtschaft mit sozialer Verantwortung, schützen das Privateigentum und stehen für eine gerechte Aufteilung von Beiträgen und Leistungen für die Allgemeinheit.

6. Das öffentliche Gesundheitswesen dient den Staatsbürgern zur bestmöglichen medizinischen Vorsorge, Versorgung und Pflege.

7. Österreich hat sein Staatsgebiet mit allen Mitteln zu schützen, seine Neutralität zu wahren und seinen Bürgern Schutz und Hilfe in allen Bedrohungsszenarien zu gewähren.

8. Umfassende Bildung, freie Wissenschaft sowie unabhängige Kunst und Kultur sind Voraussetzung für die Entfaltung einer Gesellschaft.

9. Österreichs Rolle in der Welt hat von humanitärer Verantwortung, Selbstbewusstsein und der Wahrung österreichischer Interessen getragen zu sein.

10. Ein Verbund freier Völker und selbstbestimmter Vaterländer ist Grundlage unserer Europapolitik und unserer internationalen Kontakte.

http://www.wienerzeitung.at/default.aspx?tabID=3858&alias=wzo&cob=566408

I´m too lazy to translate it though ...

[Insula Dei]

That picture makes Strache look like an evil bastard. Seriously, couldn't he try to not look like a horribly corrupt dictator holding his speech at the party congress while being cheered by the delegates?

[Hans-im-Glück]

That picture makes Strache look like an evil bastard. Seriously, couldn't he try to not look like a horribly corrupt dictator holding his speech at the party congress while being cheered by the delegates?

Maybe Strache looks like a evil bastard, because he is a bevil bastard

[Tender Branson]

New Kronen Zeitung poll by IMAS (historically very bad pollster):

28% SPÖ
26% ÖVP
23% FPÖ
13% Greens
  7% BZÖ
  3% Others

[Tender Branson]

New Market poll for "Der Standard":

28% FPÖ
27% SPÖ
23% ÖVP
12% Greens
  7% BZÖ
  3% Others

New Fessel-GfK poll (ÖVP-internal):

30% SPÖ
26% ÖVP
25% FPÖ
12% Greens
  4% BZÖ
  3% Others

http://derstandard.at/1308679530932/Sonntagsfrage-Freundliches-Urteil-ueber-Blau-und-Gruen-boese-Daten-fuer-OeVP

[bgwah]

Between the wicked hand gesture and the creepy lighting, that dude sure looks pretty evil!

[Tender Branson]

New Gallup poll for Ö24:



Currently, there's an education debate here in Austria initiated by SPÖ-education minister Claudia Schmied.

Schmied recently proposed a plan that would enable bad students to be promoted to the next grade, even if they have 3 failing grades in their last report card. Until now, students with only one failing grade have to repeat the whole year again.

SPÖ and Greens favor the plan, and the ÖVP was also inclined to back it. But then party leader Spindelegger spoke out against it and the ÖVP switched over to oppose it. FPÖ and BZÖ are of course against the plan.

The new Gallup poll for Ö24 shows a clear picture of what Austrians think about this plan:

77% are opposed to the plan
18% are in favor of the plan

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20110626_OTS0001/oesterreich-77-gegen-aufsteigen-mit-drei-nicht-genuegend

[Tender Branson]

New ATV Austria Trend Poll:

29% FPÖ
28% SPÖ
24% ÖVP
13% Greens
  4% BZÖ
  2% Others

Direct vote for Chancellor:

20% Werner Faymann (SPÖ)
18% Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ)
11% Michael Spindelegger (ÖVP)
  4% Eva Glawischnig (Greens)
  1% Josef Bucher (BZÖ)

http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20110701_OTS0227/atv-oesterreich-trend-fpoe-weiter-vor-spoe-oevp-deutlich-abgeschlagen

[Tender Branson]

Strache has now passed 100.000 fans on Facebook.

Even David Cameron has only 134.000 fans, Angela Merkel has only 94.000.

Nicolas Sarkozy has 442.000 fans, but France is of course 8-times bigger than Austria.

[Tender Branson]

Hackers attack Austria's political elite

An internationally operating group of hackers have crashed the websites of two political parties in Austria.

The homepage of the Social Democrats (SPÖ) depicted the logo of the group called Anonymous last night (Thurs/Fri). The internet representation of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the page of SPÖ Chancellor Werner Faymann were unavailable as well.

Referring to the right-wing FPÖ’s controversial policies regarding immigration issues, Anonymous announced they wanted to show the party "what it feels like to be deported."

Anonymous have been attacking the internet platforms of political parties and businesses around the world for some time. Meanwhile, SPÖ Defence Minister Norbert Darabos and Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner presented plans for anti-cyber crime units.

http://austrianindependent.com/news/Politics/2011-07-01/8252/Hackers_attack_Austria%27s_political_elite

The SPÖ site is still down, while the FPÖ site went back online about 1 hour after the attack.

[JonBidinger]

Strache has now passed 100.000 fans on Facebook.

Even David Cameron has only 134.000 fans, Angela Merkel has only 94.000.

Nicolas Sarkozy has 442.000 fans, but France is of course 8-times bigger than Austria.

Well, if that is a measurement of anything, Nichi Vendola has 512,077 fans.

[Tender Branson]

Strache has now passed 100.000 fans on Facebook.

Even David Cameron has only 134.000 fans, Angela Merkel has only 94.000.

Nicolas Sarkozy has 442.000 fans, but France is of course 8-times bigger than Austria.

Well, if that is a measurement of anything, Nichi Vendola has 512,077 fans.

Well, if we compare fans with votes, then Vendola has the edge.

Vendola's SEL currently has about 8% support in the polls, which means that they would get about 3 Mio. votes if the election were held today.

Strache's FPÖ currently has about 29% support, which would mean about 1.4 Mio. votes for him.

This means that Vendola has a rate of 1:6 (facebook fans/voters), while Strache has a 1:14 rate.

On the other hand, Vendola certainly has MANY fans from the PD as well, while Strache certainly only has some friends from the BZÖ, while the SPÖ/Greens/ÖVP voters will not be among them.

[JonBidinger]

See, this is the kind of interesting stuff I come here for!

[Tender Branson]

The only "important" election this year in Austria will take place tomorrow in St. Pölten, which is the capital of Lower Austria.

44.501 people will be eligible to vote in this town council election.

7 parties/lists will participate:

Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (Bürgermeister Mag. Matthias Stadler)
Österreichische Volkspartei (Ing. Matthias Adl)
DIE GRÜNEN ST. PÖLTEN (Mag. Cagri Dogan)
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (Hermann Nonner)

Bürgerliste FÜR - ST. PÖLTEN (Samir Kesetovic)
UNABHÄNGIGE BÜRGERPLATTFORM WIR FÜR ST. PÖLTEN (Wagner Bettina)
CHRISTLICHE PARTEI ÖSTERREICHS (Ing. Robin Fischer)

The 2006 results were:

59.6% SPÖ
24.2% ÖVP
  7.2% Greens
  5.7% FPÖ
  3.3% Others

http://www.st-poelten.gv.at/Content.Node/buergerservice/politik/Gemeinderatswahl_neu.pdf

There have been 2 polls out from May:

58-64% SPÖ
20-22% ÖVP
    8-9% Greens
    6-8% FPÖ
    2-3% Others

http://www.noen.at/lokales/noe-uebersicht/stpoelten/aktuell/wahl/NOeN-Umfrage-So-waehlen-die-St-Poeltner;art8806,46328

http://www.heute.at/news/oesterreich/noe/St-Poelten-Hat-SP-Sieg-schon-sicher-;art932,560458