By resigning, Sebastian Kurz did his party “a very big favor,” says pollster Peter Hajek. The ÖVP now has the opportunity “to reassign itself, to reposition itself and to look forward again,” he says in PULS 24. However, according to Hajek, one will not dare to do great castling. The focus is on: “Do we still have a stable government? A government that will serve until (20) 24?”
New elections threaten a state of emergency
“New elections would be fatal,” warns Hajek in the PULS 24 Special about the resignation of ÖVP club chairman Sebastian Kurz. In the current situation, it is difficult to put together a stable government, says the pollster. In the worst case, a state emergency threatens during the corona pandemic, according to Hajek.
This tendency can also be seen in the current surveys. “Social democracy has a bit of the upper hand. In the current situation, however, it should be much stronger,” Hajek analyzes. This is “an anchor” for the ÖVP.
ÖVP in front of “turquoise rubble field”
The ÖVP is currently facing a “turquoise rubble field,” says the deputy. Standard editor-in-chief Petra Stuiber. The “reorganization failed,” she says. If the ÖVP “wants to free itself from everything”, according to Stuiber, a “major restructuring” is inevitable. New elections cannot be ruled out, but they are “not in the interests” of the government.
In 2017, the ÖVP started flying high under Sebastian Kurz. Four years later, the party is in ruins.
Had Sebastian Kurz not gone by himself, the “strong governors would have suggested that he resign very quickly,” says Stuiber. In addition, Kurz certainly “slowly noticed how the message control was slipping away from him”.