The SPÖ will fix the details of the upcoming member survey on the party leadership next Wednesday. The procedural rules are to be laid down in a presidency, but even that cannot go smoothly. As the “Kleine Zeitung” (Sunday edition) reports, the camp of Burgenland’s governor Hans Peter Doskozil rejects the chairman of the election commission and describes longtime Häupl confidant Harry Copytz as a “no go”.
Copytz, who is deeply rooted in the Viennese SPÖ and was president of the state parliament until 2018, does not have the necessary independence as a “veteran of the Viennese SPÖ”, so the argument goes. Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig has publicly backed party leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner. According to the report, the Doskozil camp is now insisting that all key issues be decided unanimously on Wednesday.
The statute provides for the electoral commission to be the organizer of the survey. This was elected at the last federal party conference with Copytz at the top. In addition, the Presidency will also deal with the timetable and the question of who is entitled to vote and in what form one can vote.
According to a survey by pollster Peter Hajek for “ATV Aktuell” (500 respondents), Rendi-Wagner has the better cards in the SPÖ electorate. 57 percent believe that the SPÖ leader has better ideas and concepts for the future, only 31 percent of SPÖ voters see Doskozil ahead. Beyond the party, however, Doskozil’s radiance is greater, as it reaps approval from 32 percent of those surveyed, and 24 percent from Rendi-Wagner. Doskozil scores particularly well with FPÖ and ÖVP voters. 46 percent of the FPÖ and 35 percent of the ÖVP voters trust the Burgenland governor with better ideas and concepts for the future of Austria.