Austria: Right-wing FPÖ receives almost a quarter of the votes in the first election
Austria’s right-wing FPÖ received almost a quarter of the votes in the state elections in Lower Austria. In the election in the largest federal state, which was also considered a national political mood test, the conservative ÖVP chancellor party was able to assert itself as the strongest force.
But according to projections, she lost about 10 percentage points and thus the absolute majority in the state parliament and probably also in the state government.
Rights in elections in Lower Austria on the rise
“The FPÖ managed to turn this state election into a federal election,” said the Lower Austrian ÖVP leader and Prime Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner. Her party, which was burdened by corruption investigations and globally, slipped to 39.9 percent – her worst result since 1945. However, Mikl-Leitner ruled out resigning on election night.
The FPÖ expects to increase by more than 9 percentage points to 24.2 percent and thus achieve its best result in the eastern federal state. The right came to power to end the “ÖVP system” in Lower Austria, as state party leader Udo Landbauer repeatedly emphasized.
By that he meant the decades-long dominance of the Conservatives, which is reflected, among other things, in party-politically motivated appointments down to the municipal level. In addition, Landbauer blamed the ÖVP, led by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, for the sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers in the previous year.
Lack of voter confidence in the ÖVP because of the Ibiza scandal
According to the projections, the social democratic SPÖ is 20.6 percent behind the FPÖ. The green were 7.6 percent, the liberal Neos 6.7 percent. The extrapolation is based on the votes from the ballot boxes that have already been fully counted and a forecast of the postal votes that will only be counted at the beginning of the week.
According to surveys, the 1.3 million eligible voters base their decisions on national and global issues such as inflation, the environment and climate, and migration. Before and during the election campaign, the ÖVP had to struggle with unexpected voter confidence due to corruption investigations in the wake of the Ibiza scandal. “These are bad times for those in government because people are dissatisfied with the situation,” said Chancellor Nehammer about the election result.
Next nationwide parliamentary elections in Austria in 2024
“Corruption has been voted out,” said FPÖ federal party manager Christian Hafenecker on Sunday evening. “This is the beginning,” he added, with a view to the state elections in Carinthia in March and in Salzburg in April. In nationwide surveys, the opposition FPÖ has been in first place for weeks, ahead of the SPÖ and ahead of the ÖVP in third place.
However, the next nationwide parliamentary elections in Austria are not due until 2024. A few weeks ago, FPÖ party leader Herbert Kickl nevertheless launched a broad poster campaign with the slogans “Fortress Austria – close borders – security guaranteed”. On the advertising space, Kickl wears a military green parka with the red, white and red coat of arms of Austria.
Political scientists do not expect the Lower Austria elections to have any direct effects on the coalition government between the ÖVP and the Greens. However, that could change if there were further ÖVP losses and FPÖ gains in Carinthia and Salzburg. But even if there were to be early elections, a right-wing chancellor would not be a foregone conclusion even if the FPÖ won: Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen signaled a few days ago that he did not want to give Kickl a government mandate.