It is not really surprising that the restrictions due to the Corona crisis with the ban on larger gatherings also have consequences for the May celebrations of the Austrian Social Democrats. Just over a month before the date, the biggest SP May celebration of the Vienna SPÖ on Rathausplatz is about to be canceled. It was pointed out within the SPÖ that the Styrian SPÖ had already canceled its May Day rallies.
In the federal party, the Vienna SPÖ was referred to as the official organizer. Vienna’s SPÖ will officially announce “the next steps” on Monday, as was explained on Friday by the “Wiener Zeitung”. What is certain, however, is that May 1st is celebrated worldwide as Workers’ Day and Red Festival – at least in an alternative form. The Mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, confirmed on Friday evening in the ORF program “Vienna Today” that the health of the population was paramount. A postponement or alternative forms of May celebrations are also under discussion.
Traditionally, at the SPÖ May celebration in Vienna, tens of thousands of comrades from the districts march to the Rathausplatz in downtown Vienna. Even if the Federal Government will not announce the future course of action until Monday after the announcement of the latest developments in corona diseases, it is not only certain that the exit restrictions will be maintained until Easter Monday on April 13. But restrictions will still be retained afterwards, especially large assemblies such as the May march pose a particular risk for a rapid expansion of the Corona cases.
The Social Democrats would therefore certainly not risk the accusation of counteracting a positive trend to limit corona diseases by sticking to a large May Day rally. This would harm both the SPÖ with federal party leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner as an opposition party and Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig before the municipal council election this autumn.
SPÖ Future Congress has already been postponed
However, the SPÖ in Vienna did not want to anticipate the official announcement on Monday. An additional clear indication that a mass march by the Vienna SPÖ on May 1 is canceled is that the federal SPÖ, as already reported, will hold its future congress as part of the “renewal process” announced in autumn 2019 after the failure of the National Council election on April 25th, was postponed. However, only a few hundred delegates would have met there for this small party convention.
For the Viennese SPÖ and Mayor Ludwig, May 1st is traditionally the stage to mobilize their own officials and sympathizers. Especially in an election year, the Viennese SPÖ lost a stage for a highly anticipated red army show and corresponding campaign announcements. For SPÖ federal party leader Rendi-Wagner, her speech to the comrades in Vienna would in turn be an opportunity for an appearance to the course specification, the media dominance of the turquoise-green federal government due to corona times due to the corona crisis management up to the ORF would receive a special media response would.
Styrian SPÖ relies on a digital replacement program
The Styrian SPÖ chief Anton Lang has already canceled the SPÖ May events in Styria this week. In this regard, there were also contacts and agreements with leading SPÖ politicians in other federal states, as the “Wiener Zeitung” confirmed.
Lang considers a mass event like a May Day rally to be “irresponsible” in view of the difficulties in containing corona diseases. May 1st is now celebrated “digitally” with activities at the Styrian SPÖ.
At the same time, the Styrian SPÖ has postponed its state party conference scheduled for May 8 to autumn. At this state party conference, Lang’s official election to the Styrian SPÖ chief is on the program. He was first appointed as the red negotiator for coalition negotiations as the successor to the SPÖ top candidate Michael Schickhofer, who had fallen in the state election on November 24 of the previous year, and was nominated as the SPÖ leader after the new edition of the ÖVP-SPÖ state government in Styria.
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