Liste KURZ

In just a couple of days Vienna will hold regional elections which determine the city’s government and major. As is quite common in such elections there are also a handful of micro parties with more or less serious goals. A good example is the “Bierpartei” (beer party) which aims at fostering local beer culture while staying tolerant towards non-local beer.

This year, another option has appeared on the ballots in at least some districts: A party with the code “KURZ” and the long-form “Liste KURZ”. KURZ is actually organized by the Austrian edition of Die Partei and the abbreviation actually means “Kultur Umwelt Rechtsstaat Zukunft” (Culture, Environment, Constitutional State, Future).

For those of you who don’t know that, Sebastian Kurz is head of the ÖVP (Austria’s conservative party) and currently chancellor. Given the name they might actually hurt the local ÖVP under current finance minister Gernot Blümel. I have no idea how this is legal but I guess it might have something to do with Sebastian Kurz not being a candidate himself this time around. Anyway: Great move!