Greens for Government?

 

 

Greens Press on Towards the Top, 15 May

by Meret Baumann

Austria’s Greens have long stood in the shadow of entrepreneur Frank Stronach’s new party in this significant election year. While the billionaire was guaranteed the attention of observers and the media, not least because of his unconventional campaigning and his decisive gains in the regional elections in Lower Austria and Carinthia, the Greens also gained, though lagging behind expectations.

As always the Greens were said to be  "Umfrage-Weltmeister" – world champions in the opinion polls. After the recent elections in Tyrol and Salzburg, they proved to be the true winners. The Greens were the only party to gain in all four provinces, and in Salzburg they even polled strongly. […]

The Greens have recently allied themselves with environmental issues, and also especially with the struggle against corruption and for more transparency in politics. They are the sole party not suspected of being embroiled in any of the cases of shady dealing in the recent past.

In the reappraisal of the scandals from the Haider era in Carinthia and the scandalous speculation [with public money] in Salzburg, the Greens have profited by the principled work of their proponents in the Public Inquiry. The party has ideologically moved to the middle, except in Vienna, which makes them electable in the conservative-ruled provinces and also makes them a party courted by thebourgois People’s Party (ÖVP).