Projections showed that the far-right Freedom Party is ahead of the ruling conservatives in the elections held on Sunday in Austria, and is in a good position to achieve its first victory in the national parliamentary elections. But her chances of ruling were unclear.
Projections broadcast by ORF public television, based on a partial count, put support for the Freedom Party at 29 percent in the elections and the Austrian People’s Party led by Chancellor Karl Nehammer at 26.2 percent. The center-left Social Democratic Party came in third place with 20.7 percent.
Herbert Kickl, the former Secretary of the Interior and longtime campaign strategist who led the Freedom Party Since 2021He wants to become Austria’s new chancellor on the back of the far-right’s first victory in national elections in Austria after World War II.
The far right has exploited voter frustration over rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also built on concerns about immigration.
In its election platform titled “Fortress Austria,” the Freedom Party calls for “reinstating the immigration of uninvited foreigners,” in order to achieve a more “homogeneous” nation through strict border control and the suspension of the right to asylum through the “emergency law.”
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The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions on Russia, is strongly critical of Western military aid to Ukraine and wants to withdraw from the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. Kickl criticized the “elite” in Brussels and called for some powers to be returned from the European Union to Austria.
But to become Austria’s new leader, he will need a coalition partner to lead the majority in the lower house of parliament – and his rivals have said they would not work with Kickl in government.
“The voter has spoken. Change is needed in our country,” said Freedom Party Secretary General Michael Schindlitz, although he admitted that “we don’t have the final result yet.”
The Secretary-General of the People’s Party, Christian Stocker, admitted that “we did not achieve first place,” but said that his party had returned from low ratings in the opinion polls. He reiterated Nehammer’s oft-stated refusal to form a coalition with Kekel – “This was the case yesterday, this is the case today and it will be the case tomorrow.”
More than 6.3 million people aged 16 or over were eligible to vote for the new parliament in Austria, a member of the European Union that follows a policy of military neutrality.
Kickl has achieved a turnaround since the last parliamentary elections in Austria in 2019. In June, the Freedom Party narrowly won a nationwide vote for the first time in the 2019 elections. European Parliament electionswhich also brought gains to other European far-right parties. The party is an established political force, but Sunday’s result, if confirmed, will be the best yet in national parliamentary elections, surpassing the 26.9 percent it recorded in 1999.
In 2019, her support fell to 16.2 percent after a scandal brought down a government in which she was the junior coalition partner. Then Vice Chancellor and leader of the Freedom Party Heinz-Christian Strache resigned After publishing a secretly recorded video in which he appeared providing services to an alleged Russian investor.
The leader of the Social Democratic Party, the party that led several Austrian governments after World War II, positioned himself as the complete opposite of Keckel. Andreas Babler He ruled out ruling under the far right and described Kickel as a “threat to democracy.”
While the Freedom Party has recovered, the popularity of Nehammer’s People’s Party, which currently leads a coalition government with the environmentalist Greens as junior partners, has fallen sharply compared to 2019. Support for the Greens was also expected to fall to just under 9% in The hundred. It appeared that the outgoing coalition was far short of a majority.
During the election campaign, Nehammer portrayed his party, which has taken a hard line on immigration in recent years, as the “strong center” that would ensure stability amid multiple crises.
But those crises, ranging from the Covid-19 pandemic to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting spike in energy prices and inflation, have also cost them support. The government also briefly angered many Austrians in 2022 Coronavirus vaccine mandatethe first in Europe.
But the last one Floods caused by Storm Boris That hit Austria and other Central European countries brought the environment back into the electoral debate and perhaps helped Nehammer narrow the gap a little with the Freedom Party.
The People’s Party is the only way for the extreme right to reach government.
Nehammer repeatedly ruled out joining a government led by Kekel, describing it as a “security risk” to the country, but he did not rule out forming a coalition with the Freedom Party per se, which would imply Kekel giving up a position in the government.
Leading political scientist Peter Felzmeier said before the election that the likelihood of Kickl agreeing to such a deal if he won the election was very low.
The most likely alternative is an alliance between the People’s Party and the Social Democrats – with or without the neoliberals, who received about 9 percent of the vote.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
