Austria's Freedom Party secures first national election win for far-right since World War II

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Austria's Freedom Party secures first national election win for far-right since World War II

时间：2024-10-01 14:29 来源：未知作者：admin 阅读：次

In short:

Austria's far-right Freedom Party won the country's national parliamentary election on Sunday.

It marked the first far-right national parliamentary election victory in Austria since World War II.

What's next?

A coalition with The People's Party is the far right's only way into government, but plans for a coalition are still undecided.

Austria's Freedom Party has secured the first national parliamentary election victory for the country's far right since World War II, finishing ahead of the governing conservatives in the Austrian election race on Sunday.

Preliminary official results showed the Freedom Party finishing first with 29.2 per cent of the vote.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer's Austrian People's Party was second with 26.5 per cent.

The centre-left Social Democrats were in third place with 21 per cent.

The outgoing government — a coalition of Chancellor Nehammer's party and the environmentalist Greens — lost its majority in the lower house of parliament.

Herbert Kickl, a former interior minister and longtime campaign strategist who has led the Freedom Party since 2021, wants to be chancellor.

"I am a mountain climber, but the bag that I have been given is not light," he told supporters.

But to become Austria's new leader, he would need a coalition partner to command a parliamentary majority. Rivals have said they will not work with Mr Kickl in government.

Opposition should 'sleep on the result' after far-right win, Kickl says

The far right has benefited from frustration over high inflation, the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also built on worries about migration.

In its election program — titled Fortress Austria — the Freedom Party called for "remigration of uninvited foreigners", for achieving a more "homogeneous" nation by tightly controlling borders and suspending the right to asylum via an emergency law.

The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions against Russia, is highly critical of Western military aid to Ukraine, and wants to bow out of the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defence project launched by Germany.

Mr Kickl has criticised "elites" in Brussels and called for some powers to be brought back from the European Union to Austria.

"We don't need to change our position because we have always said that we're ready to lead a government, we're ready to push forward this change in Austria side by side with the people," Mr Kickl said in an appearance alongside other party leaders on ORF public television.

"The other parties should ask themselves where they stand on democracy," he added, arguing that they should "sleep on the result".

Chancellor Nehammer will not form coalition with Kickl after 'bitter' election

Chancellor Karl Nehammer has often said he will not form a coalition with Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl.

Mr Nehammer said it was "bitter" that his party missed out on first place, but noted he brought it back from lower poll ratings.

He has often said he would not form a coalition with Mr Kickl. After the poll he confirmed: "What I said before the election, I also say after the election."

More than 6.3 million people were eligible to vote for the new parliament in Austria, an EU member that has a policy of military neutrality.

Mr Kickl has achieved a turnaround since Austria's last parliamentary election in 2019. The Freedom Party narrowly won a nationwide vote for the first time in the European Parliament election in June, which also brought gains for other European far-right parties.

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, whose party dominates the Netherlands' new government, took to X to congratulate the Freedom Party on Sunday. So did Alice Weidel, a co-leader of the Alternative for Germany Party.

Andreas Babler (right) has labelled Herbert Kickl (left) "a threat to democracy".

The Freedom Party is a long-established force but Sunday's result was its best yet in a national parliamentary election, beating the 26.9 per cent it scored in 1999.

In 2019, its support slumped to 16.2 per cent after a scandal brought down a government in which it was the junior partner.

Then-vice chancellor and Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache resigned following the publication of a secretly recorded video in which he appeared to offer favours to a purported Russian investor.

Support for People's Party and Greens drops amid pandemic, inflation

The popularity of Mr Nehammer's People's Party has declined sharply.

While the Freedom Party has recovered, the popularity of Mr Nehammer's People's Party declined sharply compared with 2019. Support for the Greens, their coalition partner, also dropped to 8 per cent.

During the election campaign, Mr Nehammer portrayed his party, which has taken a tough line on immigration in recent years, as "the strong centre" that would guarantee stability amid multiple crises.

But crises ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and resulting rising energy prices and inflation also cost it support. The government also angered many Austrians in 2022 with a short-lived COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the first in Europe.

But the recent flooding caused by Storm Boris that hit Austria and other countries might have helped Mr Nehammer slightly narrow the gap as a crisis manager.

Coalition plans still undecided

About 300 protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Vienna on Sunday evening.

The Freedom Party would need to form a coalition with one or more parties to secure a parliamentary majority and build a stable government, but when party leaders held a discussion on Sunday evening, no potential partners were forthcoming.

Mr Nehammer repeatedly rejected joining a government led by Mr Kickl, describing him as a "security risk" for the country, but did not rule out a coalition with the Freedom Party itself — which would imply Mr Kickl renouncing a position in government.

But that looks very unlikely with the Freedom Party in first place.

The other three parties have long ruled out a coalition with the Freedom Party altogether — whether Mr Kickl led it or not.

Liberal NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger said: "I don't want you in government and I stand by that."

"I simply believe it would not be good for our country."

Social Democrats leader Andreas Babler ruled out governing with the far right and labelled Mr Kickl "a threat to democracy".

The alternative would be an alliance between the People's Party and the Social Democrats — with or without the liberal NEOS, who took 9 per cent of the vote.

A final official result will be published later in the week after a small number of remaining postal ballots have been counted, but those will not change the outcome substantially.

About 300 protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Vienna on Sunday evening, holding placards with slogans including "Kickl is a Nazi".

AP/Reuters/AFP

By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-30/austria-far-right-first-election-win-since-second-world-war/104412948

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