Austria: Interview with Lukas Riepler, Vorarlberg Young Socialists chairperson, and candidate in the

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In the provincial elections in Vorarlberg Lukas Riepler, the chairperson of the Young Socialists and also a supporter of the Austrian Marxist tendency Der Funke, is standing as a candidate on the SPÖ list. He is campaigning on a Marxist programme and getting an important echo among workers and youth. Here we provide a report and the interview he recently gave to the German newspaper Junge Welt.

Lukas RieplerLukas Riepler (24 years old) is the chairperson of the Young Socialists (Sozialistische Jugend, or SJ) in Vorarlberg, an Austrian province bordering Switzerland and Germany, and also a supporter of the Austrian Marxist tendency Der Funke. He is standing as a candidate of the SJ in the elections to the regional parliament on September 20. Lukas is standing on the list of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) on his own political platform ‑ the platform of the SJ. His goal is to defend uncompromisingly the interests of the workers and youth.

The main slogan used in his election campaign is: “We will not pay for your crisis!” His platform is developed from this slogan, and includes: the fight against unemployment with the call for the opening of the account books of companies that threaten to lay off workers in order to see where the profits of the last years have gone, together with the demand for a publically owned company to take over bankrupt companies run by the regional government and under the control of its workers. Other demands are for a minimum wage of €1500 and a redistribution of wealth, including funding for the social security and pension system instead of bank bailouts as well as a tax on property and speculation. Other important demands are for free childcare and a unified comprehensive school system for all youth between the ages of 6 and 18 and better working conditions and full democratic rights for apprentices and cheap accommodation for all youth. Moreover he stands for the idea of a “workers’ MP on a workers wage”. And in contrast to the extreme right-wing FPÖ which has mounted an extremely xenophobic campaign, the platform includes the demand for equal rights for all people living in Vorarlberg.
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FULL ARTICLE
http://www.marxist.com/interview-lukas-riepler-vorarlberg-provincial-elections.htm