Kickl calls next election a fateful vote at FPÖ tour

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) leader Herbert Kickl used a stop on his autumn tour in Grafenwörth on Friday to criticise the federal government and call the next parliamentary election a “fateful vote”, ORF reported.

The event at the Haus der Musik, a music venue in Grafenwörth, also featured a knife and scissors sharpener, a vegetable tractor and the FPÖ’s plans for a “People’s Chancellor Kickl”.

Lower Austria FPÖ leader and deputy governor Udo Landbauer opened with a musical jibe at the government, saying: “Christian, Andi and Beate: It’s time to say goodbye.” Referring to the closure of Ardo in the Weinviertel, he told what the party said were 750 attendees that the region was facing economic decline because of “irresponsible and completely reckless energy and business-location policies”. He also criticised what he called “stupid climate hysteria”.

FPÖ Secretary-General Michael Schnedlitz said inflation had not “fallen from the sky” but was homegrown. He criticised what he described as a situation in which there was money “for the whole world, but never for our own people”. Schnedlitz also called for “remigration”, saying: “When Kickl comes, the flight home comes, and security comes.”

Kickl said the country’s biggest crisis was a crisis of trust. He accused established parties, politicians and media of lying, manipulating and misleading people, and called for a system change in several areas. He said the FPÖ needed a “very strong result” at the next parliamentary election, adding: “The walls have to shake.”