In Austria, the Beer Party will take part in this yearʼs parliamentary elections, despite a lack of funding.
This was stated today by the leader of the political force, who, having won growing support, probably sees the glass as half full, reports Reuters.
The party was mostly jokingly founded in 2015 by doctor and rock musician Dominik Vlazny. Now she has every chance to get an advantage in the elections, in particular among the left. At the same time, the far-right is still leading in the previous polls.
"Yes, the Beer Party will run for office in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The support we get is overwhelming. This motivates us to go to the end," said 37-year-old Vlazny in a statement to the media.
In January, he said that his participation in the race would depend on whether the party could raise enough funds. Vlazny intended to do this by increasing membership to 20 000 from "approximately 1 300 active members" by the end of 2023. Today, he admitted that such a number is still far away, and the elections should be held by October.
“We are over half of our funding goal. Our glass is, so to speak, half full, and it is constantly replenished," said Vlazny.
Prior to that, the party participated in the 2019 parliamentary elections and received only 0.1% of the vote, but Vlazny himself took third place in the 2022 presidential election with 8.3%. Recent public opinion polls have shown that the party is supported by 5 to 7% of Austrians, and 4% is needed to get into parliament.
In the past, the party has campaigned on serious and less serious issues, from improving the health care system to installing public beer fountains in Vienna.