Of the parliamentary parties, only formerly right-wing FPÖ has announced its intention to field a candidate against incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen in the upcoming October presidential, leaving the pool open to a host of alternative candidates.
One of them is Michael Brunner, the leader of the anti-vaccine party MFG, who aims to beat the current president and has vowed to reverse all COVID-19 measures.
MFG was founded in February 2021 as part of the protest movement against COVID-19 restrictions. The party has no mandates in the Federal Council or the National Council. Brunner’s presidential programme would focus on the fight against all types of pandemic measures.
“We again call on the Austrian federal government to resign,” Brunner said in a press conference on Monday. According to him, the governing coalition had committed more than 100 breaches of the constitution and was therefore “no longer sustainable for this country”.
Van der Bellen had already announced his renewed candidacy in May. Of the parliamentary parties, only the FPÖ has announced its intention to put someone up for election.
In addition, former right-wing FPÖ and BZÖ politician Gerald Grosz and satirical Beer Party leader and punk musician Dominik Wlazny have put themselves forward.
Brunner attacked Van der Bellen at the press conference, saying he was a “president of silence”. Referring to Austria’s reaction to the war in Ukraine, Brunner also said that the Green party, which supports the incumbent president, was no longer a pacifist movement.
Arms deliveries from Europe were described as “warmongering”.
The presidential elections are set for 9 October, and candidates must be declared by 2 September. If no candidate reaches more than 50% of the votes, a run-off election will occur on 6 November.
To run, 6,000 signatures per candidate must be collected.
Besides the Greens, the liberal NEOS party and the social-democratic SPÖ also support Van der Bellen.
The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) does not officially recommend Van der Bellen for election, but it is not putting forward a candidate of its own and wishes the incumbent “all the best” for his candidacy.