Haslauer wants party candidate

ÖVP Salzburg boss calls for Fischer competition.

Salzburg. ÖVP leaders in Salzburg have backed ÖVP Lower Austria governor Erwin Pröll’s calls for the party to nominate its own candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. ÖVP deputy governor of Salzburg Wilfried Haslauer said a party such as the ÖVP "representing the interests of the state” should nominate a candidate for the post. The call comes after incumbent president Heinz Fischer - a former SPÖ MP - ended months of speculation on Monday by saying he would run for a second term in office. It also comes after Pröll called on federal ÖVP chiefs to nominate a party candidate and suggested former Audit Office Franz Fiedler for the post. Pröll earlier ruled himself out of the running, despite analysts saying his candidacy would be the only possible threat to a second term for Fischer. Meanwhile ÖVP Styria leader Hermann Schützenhöfer said any party candidacy had been as the party had been publicly at odds over the issue. Fischer beat the ÖVP’s Benita Ferrero-Waldner in the 2004 presidential elections. If he wins the election set to take place in April 2010, it would be his final term in office as presidents are barred from staying in office for a third term.

Printausgabe vom 24.11.2009