Elke Kahr Becomes First Communist Mayor Elected in Austria
Image credit: Die Zeit
Communist Party member Elke Kahr has become the first Communist leader of a major city in Austria, according to reports.
The 60-year-old politician, who has been working in the municipal government for more than 15 years and previously served as vice mayor of Graz, was elected as the new city leader on Wednesday, said a report by RT.
Kahr has been a member of the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ, Kommunistische Partei Österreichs) for almost 30 years. She won the election with 28 of 46 votes, succeeding mayor Siegfried Nagl of the centre-right, liberal-conservative People’s Party, said the report.
“Who would have thought that the daughter of a locksmith, a Communist, would become mayor?” she was quoted as saying in her first speech following the vote.
Kahr’s new housing policy has started making headlines, as she has pledged to put a stop to profit-driven construction in Graz. She had been involved in transportation policy for the city from 2017 until her election as mayor. She is known to be passionate about housing and social policy, according to a DW News report.
Her party currently leads an alliance with the Greens and the Social Democratic Party. The bloc has already promised to set limits to the profit-driven building activity in the city, the report added.
The governing coalition has also said it would strongly support social and environmental measures.
Graz is Austria's second-largest city after the capital, Vienna, and its government has a proportional representation electoral system that allows parties with more than 10% in the government, as per the report.
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