“Absolutely at the wrong time”: Petschnig surprised by Hofer withdrawal – Austria

Alexander Petschnig, who has been the chairman of the designated state party of the FPÖ Burgenland since Thursday evening after Norbert Hofer’s withdrawal, left open on Friday whether he would actually be elected chairman at the state party’s extraordinary conference, which must now have place within a month. He will think about it in the coming days, he said at a press conference.

He was surprised Thursday by Hofer’s withdrawal as leader of the state party. Between two speeches in the state parliament session, Hofer informed him by phone that he was resigning from his post with immediate effect. For Petschnig, this change of presidency comes “absolutely at the wrong time”. He is currently busy with the preparatory work for the U-Committee of Commerzialbank Mattersburg (Cb).

“It is not entirely correct for me to have to deal with a party congress,” Petschnig said, denying that the handover of the party’s state presidency was a “negotiated game.” “I have to see what internal management work is possible in parallel with the U-Committee.”

Also, the deputy is not available for election at the state party conference, which means Petschnig could be both state party chairman and his own deputy. This scenario would mean that he alone would form the presidency of the state party. “This is a situation I do not want,” said Petschnig, who thanked Hofer for his work as the party’s regional leader.

He justified Hofer’s withdrawal by stating that after the January state elections, Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) would focus heavily on opposition politics to the federal government, but the focus has shifted to state politics in recent months.

“We are writing a record deficit of 170 million euros, a bank explodes in Mattersburg, a U-Committee is convened. That is probably one of Hofer’s reasons that the party leadership is better in the country,” Petschnig said. Also, there is some work waiting for the leader of the federal party after the Vienna elections.

As one of the last acts as chairman of the state party, Hofer ordered Manfred Haidinger to be expelled from the party, who opposed Hofer for the election of chairman at the state party conference. Through this, documents from internal meetings were repeatedly made public.

In general, there are some challenges waiting in Burgenland. So one had to accept numerous party recalls, in spring and early summer, the number of recalls exceeded the number of tickets, Petschnig said. The access point is the Oberpullendorf district, where some delegates have gone.