Tyrol ÖVP sets itself apart from federal party, with aims unclear

Austria’s People’s Party (ÖVP) in Tyrol has formalised its distance from the national party and will offer its own memberships for the first time, ORF reported. The move has left political scientist Peter Filzmaier questioning what the state party hopes to achieve in the long term.

Delegates at the party congress last weekend approved a new platform and a change to the party statutes, giving effect to the shift. Tyrol ÖVP state manager Florian Klotz said the party is independent in the party register and expects the federal party to take note of the decision in a positive spirit.

Filzmaier said the state party was in a stronger position because ÖVP regional branches are legally independent organisations. The federal party had little formal power to oppose the move, he said, and could either stay silent or accept it without comment. Publicly celebrating it would be asking too much, he added.

The federal ÖVP told ORF that the step was understandable ahead of a state election. It said the Tyrol party and its members were and would remain part of the Austrian People’s Party. The details were a matter for the Tyrol branch, and the next steps would follow party rules and be agreed closely with the federal party, it said.

The move is also intended to attract more members. Tyrol Governor Anton Mattle will lead a new campaign, with a state election due in less than a year. Klotz said Tyrol differed from other regions in several respects, citing its finances: the state has budgets without new borrowing for this year and next and wants to reduce its debt. He also pointed to what he described as a different regional mentality.

Filzmaier said the state party was heading into an election year without support from national politics. The federal government’s relatively poor image could instead prove a liability, he said. He added that the longer-term purpose of the party’s repositioning remained unclear.