Austria’s second largest city elected its first female and first communist mayor on Wednesday, taking over for Austrian People’s Party.
The Austrian Communist Party candidate, Elke Kahr, officially took office in Graz, Austria, and replaced Siegfried Nagl, who held the position for 18 years, Euronews reported.
Kahr has been a Graz councillor for 16 years with strong convictions on housing and social policies, German media outlet DW reported.
Kahr’s Communist Party leads an alliance with the greens and social democratic party’s and has promised to curb profit driving construction among other social and environmental issues, DW reported. (RELATED: Austria Implements New COVID-19 Lockdown — But Only For The Unvaccinated)
“Some people make promises a few weeks before the elections. We are there every day and for years for the people, especially for the poorest,” she said.
The coalition announced a new program called “together for a new Graz,” which focuses on local social issues, housing and climate change. They’ve also pledged to give a bicycle to every child in Graz which the coalition called “a mobility and social measure.”
Overall, the Communists in Austria command around 1% of the national vote but Graz has always shown support for the Communists due to their focus on local issues, like housing policy, and not going overboard with Marxist rhetoric, Euronews reported.