Austrian parties scrap election events due to floods

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - Deadly floods prompted Austrian political parties to cancel or postpone election events scheduled on Monday in what the conservative chancellor called a "pause" in campaigning, though seasoned observers said there was no such thing.

Heavy and sustained rain since Friday has caused the worst flooding in two decades in several central European countries. The hardest-hit part of Austria has been the province of Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna and borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Three people have been killed there so far.

"There is now a pause in the election campaign! We must devote all our energy and attention to disaster management and helping those affected by the storms!" Chancellor Karl Nehammer posted on social media platform X on Sunday afternoon.

With the Sept. 29 parliamentary election less than two weeks away, various parties' campaign events were cancelled, and televised election debates were postponed.

Nehammer, however, has remained in the public eye. He has visited Lower Austria and chaired emergency meetings in Vienna overseeing the crisis response, regularly posting pictures of himself on social media.

"Of course the election campaign continues, only now it's focused on this issue, and he's trying to turn that to his advantage," political analyst Thomas Hofer said.

Other party leaders have also been active on social media. Herbert Kickl of the far-right Freedom Party, which is leading in the polls, posted a video from a bare room thanking the emergency services.

Andreas Babler of the opposition Social Democrats (SPO), who is also mayor of the town of Traiskirchen in Lower Austria, posted videos of himself with emergency services in action there.

At a joint news conference with Nehammer on Monday, Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig of the SPO demonstrated that there was no political truce.

In the 1970s and 1980s the city dug a massive channel along the Danube to prevent it flooding, which has proven effective. The main source of flooding there this weekend was the usually tiny Vienna River.

Without naming Nehammer's People's Party, Ludwig reminded voters that it put up "fierce political resistance" to the Danube flood protection at the time.

"We have come through this situation well because we expanded flood protection massively very early on, many years ago," Ludwig said as Nehammer stood next to him.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Christina Fincher)