Austria's Freedom Party Wins General Election

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Facts

  • Austria's Freedom Party (FPÖ) secured the most votes in national elections held on Sunday, becoming the largest group in parliament for the first time. However, the results remained far short of a majority.[1][2]
  • Under the leadership of Herbert Kickl, Austria's former interior minister, the FPÖ campaigned on a platform that included curbing migration and pledging neutrality in foreign conflicts.[3][4]
  • According to official preliminary results, the FPÖ won 29.2% of the vote, while the ruling People's Party (ÖVP) and the Social Democrats (SPÖ) secured 26.5% and 21%, respectively.[5][6]
  • This means that the FPÖ has won 56 seats in the 183-member Nationalrat, Austria's lower house of parliament, while the ÖVP got 52 and the SPÖ 41. About 74.9% of 6.3M eligible voters participated in the election.[5][6]
  • Austrian Pres. Alexander van der Bellen will now have to call one of the parties — not necessarily the one with the most votes — to form the next government.[6][7][8]
  • Most parties have long ruled out a coalition with the FPÖ, however the ÖVP is expected to support it if Kickl gives up being prime minister. Negotiations to form a new government in Austria usually take months.[9][10]

Sources: [1]Associated Press, [2]Daily Mail, [3]DW, [4]The Telegraph, [5]BBC News, [6]Washington Post, [7]Economist, [8]Al Jazeera, [9]Reuters and [10]Bloomberg.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by Europeanconservative. Voters have had their say in Austria, and they have chosen the FPÖ. Mainstream parties, however, are set to form a grand coalition so as to leave the most popular party out of government, disregarding the people's will. They may well claim that the FDÖ is a threat to democracy, but it's the establishment suppressing democracy in the nation.
  • Left narrative, as provided by POLITICO. This was the most critical election in Europe this year, and the results are pretty concerning, as the neofascist FPÖ won most seats in parliament. If the FPÖ agrees to build a coalition government with its longtime partner ÖVP, Austria would be in dire straits under far-right leadership. Hopefully, Kickl will be rejected as chancellor.

Predictions