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Europe
Austria |
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Last reviewed: 12 December 2008 |
Country information
POLITICS
Austria is a Federal Republic in which executive authority is divided between nine provinces and the federal bodies in Vienna. There is a provincial assembly and government in each of the provinces. The federal parliament consists of two chambers: the “Nationalrat” and the “Bundesrat”. Members are directly elected to the Nationalrat for a five-year term. This follows electoral reform, which extended the term from four years, with effect from the last general election (28 September 2008). The reforms also lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 years. Members of the Bundesrat are elected by the provincial assemblies for a five-year term (with the exception of the province of Upper Austria, where they are elected for a six-year term).
Austria’s government is a so-called ‘Grand Coalition’, between the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP). Werner Faymann (SPÖ) is the Chancellor, and Josef Pröll (ÖVP) the Vice Chancellor (and Finance Minister).
The last general election took place on 28 September 2008. The SPÖ, under new party leader Werner Faymann, received the most votes, with 29.3% (2006 election, 35.3%). The People’s Party (ÖVP) under Wilhelm Molterer came second with 26.0% (2006, 33.3%). The right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), led by Heinz Christian Strache, came third, securing 17.5% of the vote (2006, 11%). Jörg Haider’s Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) were fourth, with 10.7% (2006, 4.1%). The Greens came fifth, with 10.4% (2006, 11.05%). The election turnout was slightly higher than 2006 at 78.8%. On Sunday 23 November 2008, the SPÖ and the ÖVP announced the formation of a new Grand Coalition. On 2 December, the new government was sworn in by President Fischer, with Werner Faymann as Federal Chancellor.
Thus, another Grand Coalition was formed, despite the SPÖ and ÖVP having their worst election results in the post-war era. Both parties were punished by voters frustrated with the collapse of the previous Grand Coalition, which had struggled through 18 months of tensions, arguments and what many saw as broken policy promises. Significant gains for the far right parties were a reflection of the public’s dissatisfaction with the Grand Coalition, as well as support for the social populism, anti-EU and anti-immigrant rhetoric of the FPÖ and BZÖ (which received over 28% of the vote between them). ÖVP leader Molterer stepped down as leader after his party’s poor election performance, to make way for the then Environment Minister Josef Pröll (who subsequently became Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister).
The Grand Coalition entered office with a much lower majority in parliament (108 seats between them: SPÖ 57, ÖVP 51) than the previous government and they lack the two-thirds majority required to pass constitutional laws. The strengthened opposition includes a powerful far-right block, as well as the Greens. The FPÖ and BZÖ have 55 seats between them (FPÖ 34 seats, BZÖ, 21 seats) and the Greens have 20 seats.
In its first 6 months in power, the government was preoccupied with maintaining economic stability and managing the economic downturn. It introduced economic stimulus and bank ‘bail out’ packages, against a background of rapidly rising unemployment and shrinking GDP (see economy section).
The Head of State, the Federal President (a largely ceremonial office), is elected by direct popular vote for a term of six years, renewable once. The current incumbent, President Heinz Fischer, former SPÖ Speaker of Parliament, was elected president on 25 April 2004 and sworn in on 8 July 2004. He succeeded the late Thomas Klestil, who had served as president since 1992. The next presidential election is scheduled for 2010.
Austrian Federal Government (in office since 2 December 2008). (Social Democratic (SPÖ) - Conservative (ÖVP) Coalition).
| Ministerial Position | Name | Party |
| Chancellor, Head of Government | Mr. Werner FAYMANN | SPÖ |
|
Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance |
Mr. Josef PRÖLL | ÖVP |
| Federal Minister for European and International Affairs | Dr. Michael INDELEGGER | ÖVP |
| Federal Minister of the Interior | Dr. Maria FEKTER | ÖVP |
| Federal Minister of Justice | Mrs.Claudia BANDION-ORTNER | non-party |
| Federal Minister of Defence | Mr Norbert DARABOS | SPÖ |
| Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management | Mr. Nikolaus BERLAKOVICH | ÖVP |
| Federal Minister of Economics and Labour | Dr. Reinhold MITTERLEHNER | ÖVP |
| Federal Minister for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection |
Mr. Rudolf HUNDSTORFER | SPÖ |
| Federal Minister for Education, Arts and Culture | Dr Claudia SCHMIED | SPÖ |
| Federal Minister for Science and Research | Dr Johannes HAHN | ÖVP |
| Federal Minister for Women and Equality | Mrs.Gabriele HEINISCH-HOSEK | SPÖ |
| Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology | Mrs. Doris BURES | SPÖ |
| Federal Minister of Health, Family and Youth | Mr. Alois STÖGER | SPÖ |
*Interim until Claudia BANDION-ORTNER (non-party) is confirmed as Minister
State Secretaries
| Name | Party | |
| Finance Ministry State Secretary | Mr. Andreas SCHIEDER | SPÖ |
| Finance Ministry State Secretary | Dr. Reinhold LOPATKA | ÖVP |
| Economics Ministry State Secretary | Mrs. Christine MAREK | ÖVP |
| Chancellery State Secretary | Dr. Josef OSTERMAYER | SPÖ |
The Far Right: history of the 1999 elections and the EU 14 Measures
So-called Grand Coalitions, formed by the two largest parties in Parliament, the Social Democrats and Conservatives, have governed Austria for over half of the last sixty years. Even when one party ruled, an informal share-out of power between the major parties, and the strong role played by the social partners in economic and social policy, meant that government tended to be by lowest common denominator. Increasingly urgent reforms were not tackled. In the 1990s, partly in reaction to the cosy share-out of jobs that went with the Grand Coalitions, the right-wing populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) attracted an increasingly large share of the votes. They came second to the SPÖ in the 1999 elections, and in February 2000 joined a Government coalition led by the (third-place) Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), amid international concern about the FPÖ’s alleged extremism. On the same day as the new Government was formed, Austria’s 14 EU partners (EU14) agreed a series of measures to restrict bilateral contacts with Austria. These measures remained in place until September 2000 when the report of “Three Wise Men” - Ahtisaari (former President of Finland), Frowein (Director, Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg) and Oreja (former Foreign Minister of Spain) - concluded that the Austrian Government was acting in accordance with European values. From this time up to the party split in April 2005 (when all the FPÖ ministers joined Haider’s new BZÖ, leaving behind a rump nationalist FPÖ), the FPÖ consistently reduced its populist rhetoric and, with hiccups, stuck to the agreed coalition policy. The ÖVP/FPÖ coalition was re-formed after the 2002 elections, and when the party split into BZÖ and FPÖ in April 2005, the new BZÖ took over the FPÖ’s role in the governing coalition. Both parties are now in opposition, although both saw a resurgence in support at 2008 elections, capitalising on the failures of the latest Grand Coalition and public fears about the economy, immigration and the EU. The FPÖ, in particular has taken a strong ‘anti-Islamisation’ stance during recent election campaigns.
Rumours of reunification between the two parties persist. While personal animosity between FPÖ leader Strache and the BZÖ’s Haider had long dampened speculation, Haider’s death in a car accident in October 2008 re-ignited it. The FPÖ immediately offered a "new, old home" and an "outstretched hand" to any BZÖ MPs who wished to join the FPÖ. However, currently there are no suggestions that the parties are planning to reunite.
