Austria - 2013 Election National Council
The Republic of Austria is a parliamentary democracy with constitutional power shared between a popularly elected president and a bicameral parliament (Federal Assembly). The multiparty parliament and the coalition government it elects exercise most day-to-day governmental powers. National parliamentary elections in September and presidential elections in 2010 were free and fair. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Security forces did not commit human rights abuses.
The rightwing Freedom Party (FPO) and the Carinthia branch of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZO - an FPO splinter party) announced 16 December 2009 that they had agreed to join forces. The move will bolster the FPO, which has been attracting a growing number of voters with its anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric. Joerg Haider, the immigrant-bashing populist leader who died in a 2008 car wreck, left the FPO in 2005 and founded the BZO. Under Haider's leadership, the BZO garnered a surprising 11 percent of the vote in the 2008 national elections, in which the FPO drew 18 percent. But since Haider's death the party has fared miserably in provincial elections outside of Carinthia, where it dominates, and had fallen below 4 percent in national polls.
The country held national parliamentary elections 29 September 2013; there were no reports of serious abuse or irregularities in either election, and credible observers considered them free and fair. The two main contenders are the Social Democrats (SPÖ) under Chancellor Werner Faymann and the conservative People's Party (ÖVP), who have shared power since 2008. The parties have dominated Austrian politics since 1945 either individually or together. However, recent opinion polls haf shown flagging support for both parties, with the SPÖ at around 27-26 per cent and the ÖVP at 22-25 per cent. A corresponding result in this election would see the coalition needing a third party to obtain a majority in parliament.
Chancellor Werner Faymann's Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) remained the largest force in the National Council, taking 52 of the 183 seats. Its coalition partner since 2006, Mr. Michael Spindelegger's People's Party (ÖVP), came in second with 47 seats. Both parties recorded their worst results since World War II, losing five and four seats respectively. On the contrary, Freedom Party (FPÖ), led by Mr. Heinz-Christian Strache, gained six more seats, making a total of 40. Two new parties entered parliament: the Team Stronach for Austria (FRANK), led by Austro-Canadian businessman Mr. Frank Stronach, took 11 seats; and the Neos-New Austria (NEOS), formed by former ÖVP member, Mr. Matthias Strolz, which took nine seats.
During the election campaigning, the SPÖ promised to create more jobs, adopt tax cuts for low earners and tax increases for "millionaires". The ÖVP opposed new taxes and promised to introduce measures to free businesses from red tape. The FPÖ campaigned to leave the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund for ailing euro zone members, a voice echoed by the FRANK, which also called for a flat rate tax. The NEOS said it would not join a coalition that included the FPÖ, stating that it does not share the party's views on Europe and immigration.
This appeared to make a so-called "grand coalition" of Austria's two biggest parties the most likely outcome of negotiations that precede the formation of any new government, when, as is almost always the case, no single party has a majority on its own. The two parties were thought to have lost support due to a series of scandals over corruption allegations and voter anger over Austria's involvement in helping find bailouts for weak eurozone countries.
The ÖVP and the deputy chancellor said a grand coalition was not inevitable. "This result is a wake-up call," Michael Spindelegger told ORF. "We can't simply go on as before." Spindelegger also declined to rule out the possibility of joining a coalition with the far right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which took 21.4 percent of the vote. They would also be able to form a majority of joined by Team Stronach, a party bankrolled by Austrian-Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, which took 5.8 percent of the vote, easily clearing the four percent required to enter parliament. However, while numerically feasible, this is not seen as a likely scenario.
On 9 October, President Heinz Fischer asked Mr. Faymann (SPÖ) to form a new government. The parliament consists of the popularly elected National Council and the Federal Council, whose members are named by the federal states. At year’s end there were 61 women in the 183-seat National Council and 18 women in the 61-member Federal Council. As of December there were five women in the 16-member cabinet. There appeared to be little representation of ethnic minorities at the national level. The new National Council includes one Muslim man and three Turkish-born Muslim women, and the Federal Council has a Muslim man of Turkish origin. The combined number of deputies with immigrant background at the federal and state level was 22, which is 3.2 percent of all representatives.
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