JETZT – Pilz List ( ger, JETZT – Liste Pilz, "jetzt" meaning "now"), founded in 2017 as the Peter Pilz List (''Liste Peter Pilz''), was a
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
and
left-wing populist
Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "com ...
political party in Austria
This article lists political parties in Austria. Austria has a multi-party system. Of the over 1,100 registered political parties, only few are known to the larger public. Since the 1980s, four parties have consistently received enough votes to g ...
. It was founded by
Peter Pilz
Peter Pilz (born 22 January 1954) is an Austrian politician ( JETZT). From 1986 to 2017, he was a member of the Austrian Green Party.
Political career
Born in Kapfenberg, Styria, Pilz has been a member of the Austrian Parliament (''Nationalrat'' ...
, a former member of
The Greens – The Green Alternative
The Greens – The Green Alternative (german: Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative, ) is a green political party in Austria.
The party was founded in 1986 under the name "Green Alternative" (''Grüne Alternative''), following the merger of the ...
, who left his previous party in July 2017 and formed the Peter Pilz List to run in the
October legislative election. The party won 4.4% of votes cast and 8 seats. In the
2019 legislative election, the party lost its representation in the
National Council.
History
A long-time member of
The Greens – The Green Alternative
The Greens – The Green Alternative (german: Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative, ) is a green political party in Austria.
The party was founded in 1986 under the name "Green Alternative" (''Grüne Alternative''), following the merger of the ...
,
Peter Pilz
Peter Pilz (born 22 January 1954) is an Austrian politician ( JETZT). From 1986 to 2017, he was a member of the Austrian Green Party.
Political career
Born in Kapfenberg, Styria, Pilz has been a member of the Austrian Parliament (''Nationalrat'' ...
was among the first delegation of Greens deputies elected to the
National Council in 1986, and served as the party's spokesman between 1992 and 1994. At the federal convention of The Greens in June 2017, he sought election for fourth place on the federal
party list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
for the upcoming election. However, he lost to Julian Schmid. He was then offered sixth place on the list, but rejected it and instead announced his retirement from the National Council. Over the following weeks, speculation grew about the prospect of Pilz forming his own party. When questioned on the subject, he neither confirmed or denied rumours.
Opinion polls conducted throughout July indicated such a party could garner support from around 4–6% of voters.
On 25 July 2017, Pilz announced his resignation from the Greens and his intention to run his own
electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
for the election, named the "Peter Pilz List". An application for registration as a political party was submitted on 26 July and approved on 31 July. Pilz claimed that he did not intend to found a new political party; no party programme would be formulated, and there would be no party line. He said that registration as a party was necessary to gather the grassroots support he desired, which he did not consider possible with a purely electoral list. He intended each candidate on the list to specialise in and represent a specific policy area, stating he sought to "people the programme".
For his list, Pilz initially presented teacher, musician, and activist
Maria Stern, lawyer and consumer advocate
Peter Kolba
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
, former
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
(SPÖ) politician and
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
activist
Sebastian Bohrn Mena, entrepreneur Stephanie Cox, and lawyer
Alfred J. Noll.
On 28 July, three National Council deputies defected from their parties and joined the Pilz list:
Wolfgang Zinggl
Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...
and
Bruno Rossmann
Bruno may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname
* Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880)
* Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...
from The Greens and
Daniela Holzinger-Vogtenhuber from the SPÖ. Their support allowed the party to bypass the threshold of 2,600 signatures normally required for ballot access in all nine
states.
In August, four more candidates were presented:
Renée Schroeder
Renée Schroeder (born 18 May 1953, in João Monlevade, Brazil) is an Austrian researcher and university professor at the Department of Biochemistry at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vien ...
and
Hannes Werthner
Hannes is a masculine given name and a diminutive of Johannes or Hannibal.
Hannes may refer to:
*Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) Swedish chemist and Nobel-prize winner
*Hannes Aigner (born 1989), German slalom canoeist and Olympic medalist
*Hannes A ...
(for science policy), nursing assistant
Teresa Roscher
Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name.
It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...
(for nursing), and lawyer
Alma Zadić
Alma Zadić (; born 24 May 1984) is a Bosnian-born Austrian lawyer and politician of the Green Party. She has been serving as Minister of Justice since 7 January 2020 in the governments of Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg and K ...
(for integration).
2017 legislative election
The Pilz List carried out an unconventional campaign, eschewing
poster
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...
s which traditionally play a prominent part in Austrian campaigns. The party published only one poster, a blank page with text reading: "1 poster - our only one! / 0 EUR tax money / 0 pestering / Yes, it works!" and a link to the party's website.
The party campaigned heavily on
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
, as well as through various media appearances. They promoted their candidates via public functions and so-called "Pilz talks" concerning various policy areas. The events were conducted in a participatory fashion, with anyone interested given the opportunity to engage in the discussion. Pilz called for public funding of political parties to be halved, and financed his campaign using voluntary donations.
He stated the party's goal for the election was to win a double-digit percentage of votes.
The party ultimately won 4.4% of the electorate with 223,543 votes, and secured 8 seats in the National Council. The Pilz List outperformed Pilz's former party, with the Greens falling short of the 4%
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
, losing all their seats. Analysis by the SORA Institute showed that, compared to the 2013 election results, the Pilz List took 67,000 votes (30% of its total) from the Greens, 32,000 from the SPÖ, 31,000 from
NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (german: NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum) is a liberal political party in Austria. It was founded as NEOS – The New Austria in 2012. In 2014, NEOS merged with Liberal Forum and adopte ...
and non-voters, 12,000 from the
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
, 10,000 from the
Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria.
Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
, 8,000 from
Team Stronach
The Team Stronach for Austria (german: Team Stronach für Österreich) was a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in Austria founded by and named after Austrian-Canadian businessman Frank Stronach. It was dissolved in August 2017.
Hi ...
, 6,000 from the
Alliance for the Future of Austria, and 20,000 from other parties. The seats were filled by Peter Pilz, Bruno Rossmann, Wolfgang Zinggl, Daniela Holzinger-Vogtenhuber, Alfred J. Noll, Stephanie Cox, Alma Zadić, and Peter Kolba.
Following the 2017 election
In early November 2017, ''
Die Presse
''Die Presse'' is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria.
History and profile
''Die Presse'' was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeoi ...
'' published statements from an anonymous employee of the Greens parliamentary group accusing Peter Pilz of repeated
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
and
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
, ranging from verbal harassment to
groping
In a sexual context, groping is the act of intentionally touching another person in a sexual manner without their consent. The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies, and the activity may be considered sexual assault or ot ...
. Subsequently, ''
Falter
''Falter'' ( en, italic=yes, Butterfly) is a weekly Austrian news magazine published in Vienna.
History and profile
Established in 1977, ''Falter'' is published weekly on Wednesdays. The magazine was founded by Walter Martin Kienreich. The pu ...
'' published further allegations that an employee of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
was groped by Pilz at the 2013
European Forum Alpbach
The European Forum Alpbach (EFA) is an Austrian nonprofit organisation and foundation based in Vienna, Austria. It is best known for hosting the event of the same name in the village of Alpbach. It is an interdisciplinary platform for science, po ...
. Pilz denied all accusations, but announced on 4 November he would no longer accept his seat in the National Council. On 8 November, he was replaced by
Martha Bißmann. Peter Kolba subsequently became parliamentary leader of the party.
On 18 December 2017, Kolba announced that the Pilz List would not run in the upcoming state elections in
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
,
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
,
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
, and
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
. He stated the party wanted time to build as a movement, and that they planned to compete in the following European Parliament elections.
On 14 January 2018, Kolba announced that Peter Pilz would return to the National Council. The timeframe for the move and who would resign to allow his re-entry was not clarified. This was strongly criticised by other parties, with the women's spokeswomen of both the SPÖ and NEOS stating the allegations against him were "not even partially cleared up".
On 22 May 2018, the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office suspended its investigation of Peter Pilz for sexual harassment due to the alleged victims' inability to press charges.
On 15 April 2018, Kolba announced his pending resignation as parliamentary leader, which was later delayed due to lack of agreement on a new leader. On 30 May, Bruno Rossmann was chosen to succeed Kolba. On 31 May, Kolba announced his immediate resignation from the National Council, claiming he "wanted nothing more to do with this list anymore." He did not explain his motivations, and party members claimed they were unaware that he intended to resign. He was to be succeeded by Maria Stern. However, Stern agreed to decline her mandate and allow Peter Pilz to re-enter the National Council via the federal list in exchange for being guaranteed election as the party's federal leader. Pilz thus returned to the National Council on 8 June. During his swearing-in on 11 June, all female deputies left the chamber with the exception of those from the Pilz group,
Second President of the National Council Doris Bures
Doris Bures (born 3 August 1962) is an Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) who serves as the Second President of the Austrian National Council. From September 2014 to November 2017, she was its President. She serv ...
, and NEOS deputy Karin Doppelbauer.
The party's relations with Martha Bißmann, who had taken up Pilz's original seat in November 2017, had become increasingly strained; by June 2018, the party was on the verge of expelling her. However, after discussions, on 12 June they granted her a "last chance". She resigned from the party, but remained in the Pilz List parliamentary group. On 10 July, Sebastian Bohrn Mena was expelled from the parliamentary group without notice after speaking critically of Peter Pilz in an interview. On 19 July, Bißmann was also expelled from the parliamentary group.
At a party meeting on 20 August 2018, Maria Stern was elected as party leader. Peter Pilz became deputy leader.
On 19 November 2018, the party announced it was changing its name to "NOW – Pilz List" (german: JETZT – Liste Pilz). The parliamentary group took the name "JETZT" the next day, while the party formally changed its name on 3 December. The party also adopted a formal party programme, which identified four key priorities: Europe, ecology, justice, and oversight.
2019 elections and exit from parliament
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
on 26 May, JETZT ran a joint list named "EUROPA NOW! – Initiative Johannes Voggenhuber", featuring former Greens
MEP Johannes Voggenhuber
Johannes Voggenhuber (born 5 June 1950) is an Austrian politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Austrian Green Party, which is part of the European Greens. He was vice president of the Parliament's Constitutional Af ...
as the lead candidate. The list won 1.04% of votes cast and failed to win any seats.
After a
snap legislative election was called in June 2019, Alfred J. Noll, Bruno Rossmann, Wolfgang Zinggl and Stephanie Cox announced they would not seek re-election. Alma Zadić announced she would instead run for the Greens; she was elected to the fifth spot on the Greens' federal list. On 9 July, she was expelled from the JETZT parliamentary group.
In the election, JETZT garnered 89,169 votes (1.87%), less than half the number they had won in 2017, losing their representation in the National Council. Peter Pilz's former party, the Greens, re-entered parliament with their best ever result, winning 13.9% of votes cast and 26 seats.
After the election, Stern and Pilz resigned. Carinthian former police officer Rudolf Mang was elected as the party's new leader.
Ideology and platform
After the launch of the party, ''Die Presse'' described it as an answer to the Greens' failure to "take the
left-wing populist
Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "com ...
course Pilz recommended," and "at the same time a political experiment. ... Socio-politically the movement is clearly left ... On the other hand, when it comes to the topic of "Migration and Asylum", the initiative should be classified on the right." They emphasised Pilz's outspoken opposition to "
Political Islam
Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...
", which he described as a greater threat to Austria than
right-wing populism
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...
.
The Pilz List has been compared to
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
party
The Left, which is often classified as left-wing populist. Political scientist Reinhard Heinisch stated that the Pilz list could occupy space in the "left-wing populist area" which has opened up due to the "rightward drift" of other parties on the left. He stated the party could target "older, male, left-wing segments of the electorate with a critical emphasis on social issues and immigration and Islam, who may currently feel less wooed by the Greens."
By design, the party did not have a binding platform or party line; during the 2017 election campaign, the party's website stated, "Our candidates are our programmes."
During the 2017 election campaign, ''
Kurier
''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria.
History and profile
''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) in 1945, during the Allied occupation after World War II. ...
'' listed the "most important points" of the Pilz platform as:
*Fighting "Political Islam" and combating the "
Erdoğan network" (emphasised by Pilz)
*A 35-hour work week,
inheritance tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
with an exemption limit of €500,000, a reduction in
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, opposing
austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
, and cracking down on
tax evasion
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
(Bruno Rossmann)
*Greater parliamentary oversight and new alliances in parliament (Bruno Rossmann and Wolfgang Zinggl)
*The introduction of effective
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
and compensation, reform of housing law, and restriction of temporary leases (Peter Kolba)
*Countering the flexibilization of working hours and enabling greater balance of work and family time (Daniela Holzinger-Vogtenhuber)
*A ban on large-scale animal transportation (Sebastian Bohrn Mena)
*An independent Ministry for Integration and expanded on language education and integration services, including 2,000 specially trained integration teachers (Alma Zadić)
*Investment relief for entrepreneurs, including a separate legal form for social enterprises (Stephanie Cox)
*Doubling funding for scientific research, to €400 million annually (Renee Schroeder)
*At least one day of free admission to federal museums per week, and opposing private investment in heritage protection (Wolfgang Zinggl)
*Modernising the Support Act, including the introduction of child support (Maria Stern)
Finances
During the 2017 election campaign, the Peter Pilz List hosted a live list of all donations it received on its website. For donations over €1,000, the donor was required to give their name for the public record. The party received 1,359 donations totalling €289,644 in the year of its foundation, with almost a third of that coming from a single donation of €98,365 from party candidate Alfred J. Noll. The second largest donation came from candidate Renée Schroeder with €20,000.
In the last quarter of 2017, the Pilz list received €812,121 in public funding due to its three National Council deputies. From 2018, it received €4.8 million in party and public funding. After JETZT failed to win seats in the 2019 legislative election, the party foundation "Education Association - Open Society" retained €1.4 million in public funding which it was not required to repay.
Election results
Symbols
At the unveiling of the party, Pilz stated its official colour is "transparent", but that
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
would suffice for representation in
opinion poll
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
s.
However, the party has primarily been portrayed using
grey
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
, and often uses the colour in promotional material.
Peter Pilz List logo 2017.png, 2017 logo
JETZT_logo.svg, 2018 logo
References
External links
Official website{{Austrian political parties
Political parties established in 2017
2017 establishments in Austria
Green parties in Europe
Left-wing politics in Austria
Political parties in Austria
Pro-European political parties in Austria
Political parties disestablished in 2020
Populist parties