"Failure Across the Board": FPÖ Attacks Babler Head-On

The FPÖ focused on Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ) in an "urgent inquiry" in the National Council on Thursday. Social spokesperson Dagmar Belakowitsch accused him of "total failure from housing to pensions." State Secretary Michaela Schmidt (SPÖ), who represented Babler in the National Council, rejected the criticism and pointed to the measures taken in the fight against inflation. This was "the government's top priority."

FPÖ Accuses Babler of "Total Failure"

Belakowitsch ranted in her speech that Babler's promises from the SPÖ election program regarding inflation, pensions, and rents had not yet been implemented. She criticized the economically liberal mood in the federal government, "where there is no longer a social corrective." Despite the SPÖ being in the government, "social cutbacks continue," housing and food remain expensive, and problems in the healthcare sector are not resolved, Belakowitsch criticized. In the pension sector, the blue politician also saw "a cold-hearted social cutback policy."

Reference to Previous Measures Against Inflation

The federal government had achieved "far-reaching steps" in the fight against inflation in recent days, countered SPÖ State Secretary Schmidt. Implementation sometimes required a two-thirds majority, and it was up to the Freedom Party to enable a quick decision. With the rent price cap, Babler, who is responsible for housing, had "truly achieved something historic." Combating inflation was "the government's top priority," and many other relief measures were being worked on.

The coalition partners ÖVP and NEOS also came to Babler's defense. Andreas Ottenschläger (ÖVP) saw dishonesty in the FPÖ, which prides itself as an economically liberal party. NEOS MP Markus Hofer also wondered about the "planned economic ideas" of the entrepreneurial party. The Green Werner Kogler found much that was accurate in the Freedom Party's "general reckoning," but also wondered about the "strange role distribution" and accused the FPÖ of not presenting any solutions themselves.

(APA/Red)

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