With a positive outlook, the Austrian Beer Party campaigns for parliament.
April 30, VIENNA (Reuters) – Backed by increasing support and a decision to view the glass half-full, Austria’s Beer Party will run in this year’s parliamentary election despite still falling far short of its own fundraising target, the party’s head announced on Tuesday.
Originally created in 2015 mostly as a joke by rock musician and doctor Dominik Wlazny, the party now offers a serious danger to steal votes from other parties, especially those on the left, during a period when the far right is clearly leading in surveys.Indeed, in the upcoming parliamentary election, the Beer Party will run. The amount of support we have gotten is enormous. That encourages us to follow through,” 37-year-old Wlazny said in a statement to the media.
“We have received funding toward more than half of our target. As it were, our glass is only halfway filled, and more is continuously being added,” Wlazny remarked.
Wlazny placed third with 8.3% of the vote in the 2022 presidential election, despite the party’s poor performance in the 2019 parliamentary election, where it received only 0.1% of the vote. According to recent polls, between 5% and 7% of people support it.
The party has run campaigns in the past on both important and non-serious topics, such as expanding Vienna’s public beer fountains and enhancing the public health system.
Unlike his easygoing and iconoclastic persona, Wlazny has stage managed his latest appearances with great care. Following his brief remarks on Tuesday, he did not respond to any questions from the media.
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