ÖVP Secretary General Marchetti resigns amid internal party pressure

Behind the scenes, however, the mood was noticeably more tense. According to information from oe24, Marchetti had faced internal party criticism for weeks. One party insider summed up the resignation: „Das war das letzte i-Tüpfelchen."

The trigger was reportedly an interview in the "Presse," in which Marchetti had openly encouraged Clemens Pig to run as ORF Director General. In addition to his role as Secretary General, Marchetti also serves as the ÖVP's media spokesperson. According to assessments, he thus stumbled over the „stümperhaft organisierte ORF-Wahl."

Trigger: ORF election and interview in the "Presse"

Marchetti also received recognition for his tone from the ranks of the opposition parties. Klaus Seltenheim stated: „Auch wenn wir politisch oft unterschiedlicher Ansicht sind, ist der Austausch mit Marchetti stets von Wertschätzung, Respekt und Verlässlichkeit geprägt gewesen."

Douglas Hoyos expressed a similar view. Despite naturally differing positions, Marchetti as Secretary General had distinguished himself through „seine Kompromissbereitschaft und die Offenheit zum guten Gespräch".

Reactions from the opposition parties

Marchetti himself had recently emphasized that his leadership style had been „durchaus untypisch" for a Secretary General. He sees himself as a policy-focused moderate-center politician who prefers the nuanced argument over the broad political sword.

The ÖVP thus faces another personnel reshuffle at its party leadership just a few weeks after Alexander Pröll's move into the federal government. The People's Party initially left open exactly when the succession would be officially announced.