Failure of the established parties

Freedom Party [FPÖ] candidate Susanne Winter has raised concerns just before the communal elections in Graz. She announced on the weekend that the Prophet Muhammad was a "child molester" by today's standards, a "general" who wrote the Koran while suffering from "epileptic seizures." Walter Müller criticizes the Social Democrats and Conservatives for failing to solve the social problems that fuel her position: "The city of Graz had enough time. Everyone in City Hall has known for years that parallel societies are developing in the working-class areas of Gries or Lend – and in schools, too. Graz is not so large; it could have long ago become a laboratory for testing integration programs for all Austria. ... They missed the chance to be a model city. ... And now, in this area neglected by the SPÖ [Social Democratic] and ÖVP [People's Party], both the BZÖ [Alliance for the Future of Austria] and FPÖ are scrambling for votes with increasingly radical slogans and the acceptance of a split in society. The ÖVP and SPÖ are helpless in face of this political arson. They have failed in the realm of municipal policy, and now are reduced to expressing moral outrage."

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