The Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) has elected Tobias Schweiger as its new federal chair, while the party continues its campaigns on housing, public services and local government, particularly in Vienna and Graz.
Communist Party of Austria elects new chair as housing campaigns continue
The Federal Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) elected 36-year-old Tobias Schweiger as the party's new chair on 14 October, succeeding Günther Hopfgartner, 62. Schweiger previously served as the party's federal spokesperson and headed its list in the 2024 parliamentary elections, in which the KPÖ received 2.4 percent of the vote but failed to enter parliament.
Following his election, Schweiger stressed the need to strengthen the party's social and organisational presence and develop the KPÖ into a political alternative to the existing system. The party's statement emphasised the connection between grassroots solidarity initiatives, social struggles and communist political organisation.
The leadership change comes as the KPÖ continues its activities around housing rights, an issue that has been central to its political work in recent years.
In Vienna, the party launched an autumn campaign on 15 October demanding the preservation and expansion of municipal housing and opposing privatisation. KPÖ Vienna spokesperson Mario Memoli announced that party activists would visit neighbourhoods and speak directly with tenants about rising rents, maintenance problems and vacant properties.
The Vienna organisation also criticised the housing policies of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), calling for a tax on vacant properties, with the revenue directed towards public housing. Memoli further argued that public ownership and expropriation should be part of the discussion on addressing the housing crisis.
At the regional level, the KPÖ in Styria (Steiermark) opposed proposed amendments to legislation protecting Graz's historic city centre.