After the election won by Austria's far-right party

【Reporter Connection】

On election night of 29 September, the Austria Freedom Party rewrote history. According to preliminary vote counts, the far-right populist Liberal Party won 29.2% of the vote compared to the 2019 general election, making it the largest party in the National Assembly. It was also the first time since its inception in the 50s of the 20th century that the Liberal Party had won a parliamentary election.

The ruling center-right People's Party came in second, but its 26.5 percent of the vote dropped sharply from 37.5 percent in the last election. The left-wing Social Democratic Party, the traditional major party, continued to slump, ranking third, setting a new low for the party, with only 21% of the vote. The other two smaller parties rose and fell. The New Austria Party rose from 8.1 percent in the previous term, with 9 percent of the vote. The Greens, which are in coalition with the BJP, have fallen significantly from 13.9% in the previous term, with only 8% of the vote. Parties such as the Beer Party failed to enter Congress because they did not pass the minimum threshold of 4% of votes.

Both the ruling People's Party and the Greens have seen a sharp drop in support, reflecting strong dissatisfaction with the status quo in Austria society. At present, Austria's economic development is slow, with negative growth for two consecutive years, serious inflation and high unemployment. Despite such a poor economy, Austria has taken in many refugees from Afghanistan and the Middle East. The refugees are tying up already strained socio-financial resources, much to the dissatisfaction of some Austrians. For example, according to Austria media reports, a Syrian refugee couple with seven children in Vienna received more than 4,600 euros a month in social assistance without doing anything.

In response to this dissatisfaction, the Liberal Party clearly proposed to build an "Austria fortress" as its campaign platform in the general election, promising to implement a tough immigration and refugee policy, which won the favor of many voters. The Liberal Party also led in the pre-election polls, and the final election received even more votes than expected.

Austria society is alarmed by the Freedom Party's victory, as the first leader of the Liberal Party, Reint Haller, was a former Nazi Germany parliamentarian and SS officer, and now the party is closely linked to other far-right parties in Europe. On election night, more than 200 protesters from left-wing groups gathered in front of the parliament building, shouting slogans such as "Say no to Kicker forever" and "Get out of parliament".

The Austria Freedom Party is an old right-wing party in Europe, and its first victory in Austria's National Assembly elections has far-reaching implications. In addition to being tough on immigration and refugee policies, the Liberal Party is a "Eurosceptic" faction, strongly opposing the EU's expansion of power, advocating more national sovereignty, and emphasizing less dependence on the EU economically. On security issues, support the permanent neutrality of Austria and oppose financial or military support for Ukraine. There is an example of the maverick nature of the Liberal Party. In March last year, when Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a video speech at the Austria National Assembly, members of the party walked out of the venue en masse to protest the Austria government's violation of neutrality. This is very rare in today's Europe, where pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia have almost become politically correct.

The Liberal Party is also very active within the European right, with close ties to other right-wing parties. The Liberal Party is one of the initiators of the new European Parliament group "European Patriots". At the end of June this year, it was in Vienna, the capital of Austria, that the leader of the Freedom Party, Kikel, together with Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former Czech Prime Minister Babiš, announced the establishment of the new party group. Today, the group has attracted 84 European parliamentarians from 12 EU countries and has become an important force in the European Parliament. After the Liberal Party won the election, European far-right parties congratulated her, including Orban, Alice · Weidel, leader of the AfD Germany, and the leadership of the France National Assembly. Some media believe that the victory of the Austria Freedom Party has been welcomed by far-right parties across Europe. This growing support could heighten the risk of disagreement within the EU on key policy areas, such as defending Ukraine and confronting Russia.

However, it is one thing for the Liberals to win the election, but it is another thing for the Liberal Party to come to power.

Austria President Van der Bellen has publicly stated that the right to form a government will not be automatically granted to the party with the most votes. In a televised address on election night, he also intriguingly stressed that the Constitution stipulates that the Federal Chancellor is appointed by the Federal President. He likened the formation of a new government to a "high jump race" to see who could convince the other partners to reach the 50 percent parliamentary threshold.

As it stands, no political party has more than 30 percent of the votes, so it does not have the ability to form a government on its own. At the media briefings of the main parties after the election, Kicker threw olive branches to the political parties, but all the major parties, with the exception of the BJP, openly or effectively refused to form a coalition with the Liberals. Under these circumstances, the People's Party, which is in second place, has lost the general election, but it is expected to remain in power because it is in an advantageous position to form a government in the future. Based on the policy positions of the parties and the historical cooperation, the following forms of alliance are more likely:

One is the alliance of the People's Party and the Liberal Party. The BJP and the Liberal Party share similar positions on issues such as immigration policy, economic liberalization and national sovereignty, and also have the experience and basis to govern in coalition power at the central and local levels. Media commented that in the last debate before the election, the leaders of the two parties were less like a debate and more like a test of possible coalition negotiations. Prime Minister Nehammer, the leader of the People's Party, has repeatedly and explicitly refused to cooperate with the leader of the Liberal Party, Kikel, but has not closed the door to cooperation with the Liberal Party. However, Kicker has a strong personality and insists on being the "people's prime minister" in the election campaign, and the success of the alliance between the two parties depends on whether Kicker will back down in order to ensure that the Liberals come to power.

Second, the People's Party and the Social Democratic Party and the third party formed a grand coalition government. Historically, the SPD and the BJP have formed grand coalition governments on several occasions. But there is little in common between the two parties, especially on economic and social policy. An Austria friend joked that the People's Party's policy mainly revolves around how to make money, and the Social Democratic Party's policy mainly revolves around how to spend money. In addition, the combined majority of seats between the two parties makes it difficult to maintain stability. A more realistic option would be to invite a third partner, the New Austria Party or the Greens, to join the coalition government. Between the New Austria Party and the Green Party, the New Austria Party and the People's Party share similar ideas and are more likely to enter a coalition government.

(Vienna, 3 Oct -- Fu Zhigang, our correspondent in Vienna)

Source: Guangming Daily