St. Pölten Election - ÖVP: "Our City Needs a New Plan"

The ÖVP's top candidate for the St. Pölten municipal council election, Florian Krumböck, wants to draw a line under "old SPÖ politics" that "blocks progress in the city." The People's Party's concerns have regularly failed due to the absolute red majority, Krumböck concluded with the outgoing Vice Mayor Matthias Adl on Monday, reviewing the ending work period. Nevertheless, the top candidate saw "small successes."

"Our city needs a new plan and city politics need a new style," emphasized City Councilor and Member of Parliament Krumböck at a press conference before the election on January 25, 2026. More democracy, citizen proximity, and efficiency are needed. Nearly 72 percent of the 1,288 municipal council resolutions in the current period were unanimous, 15.5 percent occurred without the ÖVP. Krumböck identified "small successes" of the People's Party with the weekend night train between St. Pölten and Vienna or with curbed district heating price increases.

St. Pölten's Vice Mayor: "Great Challenges"

The period since 2021 was, according to Adl, "characterized by great challenges" - from the pandemic to inflation and budget pressure to the flood disaster in 2024. "The SPÖ has claimed from its 56 percent majority to always be 100 percent right, but has taken zero percent responsibility on the really difficult issues, instead always putting up the detour sign," criticized Adl, for example, with regard to budget consolidation. "Prestige projects were more important than sustainable finances," he cited the "Wind Catcher" at Europaplatz as an example.

Transparency was a "disruptive factor" for the SPÖ, Adl referred to the announcement to stop the live broadcast of municipal council meetings: "Those who prevent transparency do not deserve trust in elections," he said. He positively highlighted the "good and factual" cooperation with the SPÖ during the flood disaster in September 2024. "I leave with the good feeling of having contributed to the city," concluded the Vice Mayor, who has been a member of the municipal council since 2005 and Vice Mayor since 2011, with a personal review. Adl had announced in the summer that he would no longer run as the top candidate and will in the future serve as the finance officer in the city party board.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.