On Sunday, a far-right party won the most votes in Austria's elections for the first time since the Nazi era, with the Freedom Party (FPÖ) riding a tide of public anger over immigration and the cost of living, defeating the centre-right People's Party. (ÖVP).
According to near-perfect results, the pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ won 29.2% of the vote, beating Prime Minister Karl Nehamaer's 26.5% from the ruling ÖVP party to second place.
The opposition Social Democratic Party recorded its worst result ever at 21%, while the liberal NEOS stood at around 9%. Despite Boris's devastating floods bringing the climate crisis to the fore this month, the government's junior partner, the Greens, finished a dismal fifth with 8.3% of the vote.
The Communist Party and the apolitical Beer Party appeared unlikely to clear the 4% hurdle to representation. Voter turnout was high at approximately 78%.
Benefiting from the rise of the right wing across Europe, the FPÖ, modeled after Hungary's Viktor Orbán, canceled three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna in August over suspected Islamist terrorist plots. took advantage of fears surrounding immigration, asylum, and crime that were heightened by the Rising inflation, slowing economic growth and deep-rooted resentment over the government's harsh measures during the coronavirus pandemic have led to a significant increase in support for the FPÖ since the last election in 2019.
Herbert Kickle, the polarizing party leadership candidate who campaigned using the nickname “People's Chancellor” once used to describe Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, said the parliament's “all He said he was prepared to form a government with the “political parties of the United States.”
“We wrote a piece of history together today,” he told supporters in the Vienna cheer squad. “We have opened the door to a new era.”
“We don't have to change our position, because we have always said that we are ready to lead the government and together with the people we are ready to drive this change in Austria,” Kickl said in his speech. Performed with other party leaders on ORF public television. “Other political parties should ask themselves where they stand in terms of democracy,” he added, “and they should sleep on the results.”
Prime Minister Nehammer called the outcome, which shocked all of Europe, “bitter”, while his defense minister, Claudia Tanner, admitted the debacle was a “wake-up call” for the ruling party.
Without an absolute majority, the FPÖ will need a governing partner. Unlike other centrist parties, the ÖVP has twice made taboo-breaking alliances at the national level in the past and has not ruled out collaborating with the far right in the next government.
But Prime Minister Nehammer said on Sunday that the scenario in which Kikl, a former hardline interior minister, became prime minister was not a starter, and that a showdown that could result in the FPÖ either ousting Kikl or taking over the government's back seat. I set it and repeated it. Gain the support of the ÖVP.
“We will find out in the coming weeks whether it is more important for FPÖ voters to claim the premiership or Herbert Kickle,” political scientist Peter Filzmeier told ORF. , added that exit polls show that it is issues, not individuals, that are motivating voters.
Kickle, a bespectacled marathon runner, was a disciple of Jörg Haider. The former FPÖ leader and premier of Carinthia, who died in a drunk-driving accident in 2008, transformed the party founded by former Nazi officials and SS officers into the ultra-nationalist force it is today.
Immigrant groups have expressed concerns about Austria's future, and critics have accused the country of not fully acknowledging its Nazi past and role in the Holocaust. Rabbi Jacob Fraenkel of the Jewish Council of Vienna called for elections. “Moment of truth”.
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At his final rally in central Vienna on Friday, Mr Kickl spoke out against anti-Russian EU sanctions, “snobbery, school principals and know-it-alls”, climate change activists and “drag queens and early sexualization in schools”. It drew cheers from the crowd, who vehemently criticized it. our children.” He welcomed the proposed constitutional amendment declaring that there are only two genders. But the biggest applause was his call for “immigration”, or deportation, of those who still “consider no need to follow the rules” of Austrian society.
Nehammer actively sought to co-opt the FPÖ's tough stance on immigration during the campaign, but the far-right has exploited Austria's enormous influence in Brussels due to its geographic prominence and strong alliances. We would like to make this a reality at the EU level as well. Congratulations poured in for Kikl from right-wing populist parties across Europe, including Germany's Alternative for Germany and Hungary's ruling Fidesz party.
The Prime Minister said on Thursday: “The government has significantly reduced asylum claims.” “But we need more: asylum seekers must undergo asylum procedures in a third country before transiting through several European countries; You will have full access to welfare.”
Five years ago, the so-called Ibiza scandal occurred in which Heinz-Christian Strache, then Austria's deputy chancellor and party leader, was caught on video discussing possible bribes from foreigners at a luxury resort in Spain. This was a remarkable comeback for the FPÖ, which had been humiliated since then. A woman who claims to be the niece of a Russian oligarch.
The disgraced Strache and parliamentary leader Johann Gudenus, who led the meeting, were forced to resign, and a snap election was held, which was won by the ÖVP, led by then-prodigy Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Two years later, Mr. Kurz resigned from politics amid a corruption investigation.
The last term was marked by a surprising reversal in government, even by the baroque political standards of this Alpine country of 9 million people, forming an ÖVP coalition with the Greens. During this period, the conservatives lost 11 points of support, and the FPÖ has led in opinion polls since late 2022 and came first in June's European Parliament elections.
Coalition negotiations are expected to take several weeks before a new government is formed. Regardless of the outcome, the ÖVP appears poised to remain in power either in an alliance with the far right or in an unwieldy and unprecedented three-way coalition with small and medium-sized parties, similar to Germany's unpopular government. A two-party alliance with the Social Democrats could give it a narrow majority, but analysts say such a deal is unlikely.
