The start was made by the top candidate for the EU elections, Harald Vilimsky. Afterwards, the top man for the Styrian state elections in the fall, Mario Kunasek, attacked the black-red state government. The highlight was the appearance of Herbert Kickl, who announced, among other things, a “stripping off the chains”.
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When Herbert Kickl came on stage, there was no stopping the audience; everyone rose to chant “Herbert”. He is extremely motivated, said the federal party chairman, and that is “bad news” for the government, which has no place in these offices, said Kickl. They will take the bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground, in Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vorarlberg and Styria, in the federal government and in the EU elections. The history books will one day say that the “stripping off of the chains” began on January 13th in Graz in the Schwarzlhalle.” He feels the huge power of the liberal party, “an incredible power plant.” Nehammer’s appearance – according to Kickl, the “dead “man walking in the Federal Chancellery” – in the ZiB2 he recently gave an election recommendation for the FPÖ.
- To click through: The New Year’s meeting in pictures
Picture gallery: FPÖ New Year’s meeting: election year start with Kickl and Kunasek
(Photo: ERWIN SCHERIAU (APA)) Bild 1/23
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“Pragmatized experts” and “system media”
“Pragmatized experts” and “system media” also got their fat. Anything is right to denigrate the Freedom Party: “You are out of step with the times,” Kickl shouted to media representatives. He also doesn’t understand why all parties didn’t run on a single list, because all of them only have the goal of preventing a liberal “People’s Chancellor”. “List of treason would be a good fit,” said Kickl, who castigated a “ghostly parallel shift” with “VIP behavior, signs and aloofness.” “Benko, Gusenbauer, Haselsteiner and the noodled Kogler” stands for Nehammer, Babler, Meinl-Reisinger, a “swingers club of those hungry for power”. Right-wing extremist condemnations wouldn’t help them. “The evil, evil right is nothing other than the middle of society, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” said Kickl to the audience, who described himself as “the only normal person among all the system people.” And normality will move into the Federal Chancellery, he announced.
- Video: Kickl: “The chains have begun to be removed”
No “weak, ailing party to Ibiza”
The clearer the liberal election result is, the more difficult it will be for opponents to ignore it, said Kickl. “Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen may reside in the Hofburg, but he is not emperor.” They are no longer a “weak, ailing party after Ibiza”, but rather “courageous, courageous and willing to take on the powerful”, because they will not give up voluntarily. He swore to the audience that one must expect every form of villainy. At the moment we have a system chancellor, but we need a “people’s chancellor” who is also elected by the people. The FPÖ has broken the boundaries of a party, they are “a movement, a freedom movement”. And when it comes to Corona, he already has “such a long wanted list of fugitives from responsibility, Nehammer, Rauch, Edtstadler, Kogler, Schallenberg …”. On the subject of climate, he said, among other things, that the world would not end, that one species or another might die out, perhaps “the Greens in Parliament.” And when it comes to remigration, everyone would “gasp,” but with Corona, “millions of people were declared unwanted in their own country. But the madness will soon end, salvation is near.” With regard to the EU, the magic word is veto, veto against the redistribution of refugees and against billions of euros for Ukraine and veto against Russia sanctions.
Image: ERWIN SCHERIAU (APA)
Kickl had special awards for the Styrian FPÖ leader Kunasek: Kunasek would succeed as an “anti-Drexler”, as practically an “Archduke Johann 2.0, a real father of the country, like our Jörg Haider was in Carinthia”.
The FPÖ was the only party to warn
The Styrian top candidate Mario Kunasek, who was mentioned in this way, had previously announced that the green Styrian heart would beat with blue power in a few months (in the state elections in the fall, note). And: Herbert Kickl is needed to vote the black-green “burden government” out of office. Only with the Freedom Party do you have the chance to turn things around. What is needed is a policy with common sense, a down-to-earth policy, a focus on the population, “not on bankers and Gusenbauers and aloof bigwigs in Brussels.” People will not forget, “Dear Mr. Nehammer,” said Kunasek to the Chancellor, what happened with “Corona, asylum and mass immigration”. The FPÖ was the only one to warn about the situation that has now arisen. In Styria, the aim is to change the system by November at the latest, against that of black-red and against stagnation, said Kunasek. You have to win, a change is only possible with first place: “We have the best program and the best staff.”
Kunasek then turned his attention – completely in a duel mood – to the Styrian governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP), who, with his income, “actually” considers himself to be part of the middle class. “I’m grateful to have him as an opponent because that’s how we win this match.” There was criticism, among other things, of the state government’s plans for the Liezen lead hospital and of the Greens, who opposed a partial expansion of the A9. SPÖ leader Anton Lang was dubbed a “good administrator” who was one and a half steps behind Drexler like an adjutant. Neither he nor federal party leader Kickl had addressed the Graz FPÖ financial scandal – the Klagenfurt public prosecutor’s office has been investigating for two years, including against Kunasek.
“Future People’s Chancellor” Kickl
When the top candidates marched in, Kickl, who had already been announced as the “future People’s Chancellor”, carried an Austrian flag, accompanied by chants of “Herbert, Herbert”. Kunasek, who announced the state governor as his target at a press conference in Graz on Friday, held a Styria banner in his hands. Incidentally, the journalists were not given their own press ID tags, but rather buttons with a drawn picture of Kickl and the inscription “People’s Chancellor” and a blue dot.
Image: ERWIN SCHERIAU (APA)
In his short speech, the Styrian state party secretary Stefan Hermann already saw the 2024 election successes for Kickl and Kunasek: “At the next New Year’s meeting we will welcome you as heads of government”, in the federal government and in Styria. Kunasek will send ÖVP governor Christopher Drexler into political retirement, Hermann announced. The Vorarlberg FPÖ leader Christof Bitschi, the next speaker, identified a change in mood in the country. In Vorarlberg we are fighting for first place for the first time in history. EU leading candidate Harald Vilimsky spoke, among other things, about making the transition come true. We have to take back democracy and freedom.
“Kickl lashes out with a hammer of inflammatory slogans”
Kickl’s speech caused criticism among the governing parties. “Herbert Kickl is lashing out with a hammer of inflammatory slogans,” criticized the Secretary General of the Green Party, Olga Voglauer, in a broadcast. What was missing from the hateful speech, however, were suggestions for solutions for the people in this country and concrete ideas for the future. “Herbert Kickl’s political views are extremely dangerous for democracy in this country,” warned Voglauer, referring to Kickl’s role model in Hungary.
The ÖVP saw the FPÖ leader once again exposed as a “security risk” through his speech. “From fantasies of blue party propaganda in school books to wanted lists of political competitors, there was everything that should not be missing from the repertoire of a security risk,” said ÖVP General Secretary Christian Stocker. At the same time, he again accused Kickl of fooling people when it came to asylum.
