Image: HELMUT FOHRINGER (APA)
Before the meeting, Babler was deliberately relaxed about yesterday’s decisions by the party bodies, which had not necessarily gone his way.
“I don’t want to say anything more about it,” the neo-Federal Councilor told journalists. However, Babler regrets that the fairness agreement he suggested will not come about. A few democratic rules are needed, he pointed out that the other two camps – that of incumbent Pamela Rendi-Wagner and Burgenland’s governor Hans Peter Doskozil – had not always acted correctly in the past.
Babler did not respond to the fact that the second President of the National Council, Doris Bures, said that fairness agreements were mostly supported by those who were at loggerheads with fairness. The mayor emphasized that he was standing up for something positive. Babler commented calmly that he had not been asked to join the committees yesterday. Anyone who does not have to go is not very interested in being there. He preferred to make an appointment with the base.
No union support
Babler, who appeared in a suit to celebrate the day, described his work in the Federal Council as a new and exciting task. A premiere speech on the first day of Parliament is not planned. Babler cannot hope for any official support from the union. ÖGB President Wolfgang Katzian confirmed this in an OÖN interview.
The leaders of the union had always supported Rendi-Wagner in recent years, although Katzian was less offensive here than, for example, FSG boss Rainer Wimmer and other top Austrian union leaders such as Alois Stöger. Chamber of Labor President Renate Anderl was one of the 100 (female) party members who officially supported Rendi-Wagner’s candidacy when it was submitted.
Source: Nachrichten
