Legislative elections were held in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd
National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.
The governing
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly overtaken by the
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ).
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to:
Current political parties
*Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens''
*Greens of Andorra
* Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Greens of Burkina
* Greens (Greece)
* Greens of Montenegro
*Greens of Serbia
*Gree ...
became the third largest party for the first time, while the
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aus ...
(FPÖ) fell to fourth for the first time. The
Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), competing in its first national election, narrowly passed the 4%
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
, despite opinion polling which indicated it would fall short.
After the
2002 election, the ÖVP formed government with the FPÖ; in 2005, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) split from the FPÖ. Most of the FPÖ's National Council deputies joined the new party, which replaced the FPÖ as the junior partner in government. As a result of the 2006 election, the ÖVP–BZÖ coalition lost its majority. After three months of negotiations, the SPÖ and ÖVP formed a
grand coalition under SPÖ leader
Alfred Gusenbauer, which took office on 11 January 2007.
Contesting parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 22nd
National Council.
Qualified parties
In addition to the parties already represented in the National Council, eight parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. Three of these were cleared to be on the ballot in all states, five of them only in some.
On the ballot in all 9 states
*
Alliance for the Future of Austria (''BZÖ'')
*
Communist Party of Austria
The Communist Party of Austria (german: Kommunistische Partei Österreichs, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of Republic of German-Austria, German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest ...
(''KPÖ'')
*
Hans-Peter Martin's List
The Hans-Peter Martin's List – For genuine control in Brussels (german: Liste Dr. Hans-Peter Martin – Für echte Kontrolle in Brüssel) was a populist and Eurosceptic political party in Austria. It had three seats in the European Parliament ...
(''MATIN'')
On the ballot in some states only
*
EU Withdrawal – Neutral Free Austria (''NFÖ'') - on the ballot only in
Carinthia,
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
,
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
,
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...
, and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
*
Socialist Left Party, List against Capitalism and Racism (''SLP'') - on the ballot only in Vienna
* Certainly – Absolutely – Independent, Franz Radinger – on the ballot only in Carinthia
* Initiative 2000 – on the ballot only in
Burgenland
Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...
* List Strong – on the ballot only in Carinthia
Campaign
Austrian People's Party
The
Austrian People's Party contested the election with
Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel
Wolfgang Schüssel (; born 7 June 1945) is an Austrian People's Party politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in conte ...
as its leader. It was the first federal election in Austria since
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
the party entered as strongest party. Slogans used by the party in the campaign were "Secure. Austria" (''Sicher. Österreich''), "Austria. Here, we are well." (''Österreich. Hier geht's uns gut.'') and "Austria. Stays better." (''Österreich. Bleibt besser.'') They also attacked the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
, attesting them a lack of economic competence, repeatedly bringing up the so-called "
BAWAG
BAWAG (German language: ''Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft'') was a bank in Austria founded in 1922. On October 1, 2005, it merged with the separate '' Österreichische Postsparkasse'' (P.S.K.) to form the "Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Öst ...
-Affair".
The ÖVP cited a rising number of academics and shorter study periods, according to them because of the introduction of tuition fees, as some of their successes. They also capitalized on their women’s policies, including being the first Austrian cabinet with half the ministers being women and appointing a woman as president of the
Supreme Court for the first time.
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party was led by
Alfred Gusenbauer in the election campaign. Themes of their campaign included a rising in youth unemployment, criticism of the
Schüssel government's pension reform as well as the order of
Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...
fighters which they wanted to cancel in the case of them entering government. They also criticized the abolishment of the Ministry for Women and promised to abolish tuition fees for universities.
After coming in first in opinion polls for a long time, from March 2006 onwards the Austrian People's Party was ahead of them. The main reason for this was believed to be the "BAWAG-Affair": the Bank for Work and Economy (Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft), in which the Social Democratic dominated
Austrian Trade Union Federation held a majority, was hurled into turbulences, leading to disputes in the party.
On 3 September 2006 the Social Democratic Party and the
Liberal Forum
The Liberal Forum (german: Liberales Forum, LiF) was a centrist, liberal political party in Austria. The party was active from February 1993 to January 2014, when the party merged into NEOS – The New Austria.
A member of the Liberal Intern ...
formed an
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
with the goal to prevent a further ÖVP-led government.
Freedom Party of Austria
The
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aus ...
campaigned with party leader
Heinz-Christian Strache
Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of Civi ...
as their leading candidate.
Media considered the initiative "Stay free Austria" (''Volksbegehren "Österreich bleib frei"'') as start of their campaign. Some points of their party programme they highlighted were: No
accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987.
After the ten founding ...
and rejection of the
European Constitution
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
, no rising of Austria's contributions to the European Union, aggravation of citizenship laws, stopping immigration and fighting abuse of asylum.
The Greens - The Green Alternative
Leading candidate for the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
was party leader
Alexander Van der Bellen
Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party.
Va ...
.
The Greens started their pre-election campaign in May 2006 with the presentation of two "Black Books". The "Black Book black" concentrated on their criticism of the People's Party government, the "Black Book red" criticized the opposition performance of the Social Democratic Party. The Greens accused both parties of violations of human rights, with their main criticism being the 2005 reform of the asylum and foreigner's rights laws, to which the Social Democratic Party had agreed.
Central to their campaign were promotion of alternative energy, improving the situation of working women, introduction of a demand orientated basic social security (''Grundsicherung''), an education reform and introduction of a point-system for immigration, favouring highly qualified immigrants.
They stated abolishment of tuition fees for universities and cancelling the order for Eurofighter as conditions for entering a government.
Alliance for the Future of Austria
The
BZÖ entered the campaign with
Peter Westenthaler, former floor leader of the Freedom Party, as its leading candidate.
Peter Westenthaler was elected as party leader on a special party summit on 23 June 2006. The party contested the election as "The Freedom-minded – Westenthaler's List – BZÖ" (''Die Freiheitlichen – Liste Westenthaler – BZÖ''). After the Freedom Party obtained a
preliminary injunction, the BZÖ had to remove the phrase "The Freedom-minded" from its billboards – it remained on ballot papers nonetheless.
The party presented an election programme with the title "10 points against a shift to the left in Austria". Policies included: lowering of number of foreigners by 30%, limits for the share of non-native German speakers in classes and termination of the European Union's accession talks with Turkey.
On 25 September, six days before the election, Minister of Justice
Karin Gastinger, deputy leader of the BZÖ and the party's leading candidate in Styria announced her leaving the party. As reason for her decision she stated that she "doesn’t want to be active in a political movement that is xenophobic, that operates with fear".
Vorarlberg Online: Gastinger leaves BZÖ
in German, retrieved 2010-05-17
Minor parties
Communist Party of Austria
Leading candidate for the Communist Party of Austria
The Communist Party of Austria (german: Kommunistische Partei Österreichs, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of Republic of German-Austria, German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest ...
was Mirko Messner. Hoping for a basic mandate in the constituency Graz, the Communist Party made heavy use of the Styrian politician Ernest Kaltenegger, who managed to secure one of the best election results in the history of the party when gaining 20% of the votes in the municipal elections in Graz. Points of their election campaign included a tax for the rich as well as higher minimal pensions and wages.
Dr. Martin's List
Hans-Peter Martin, MEP, announced in July 2006 that he intended to run with his own party. He concentrated on criticizing the established parties and trying to attract protest votes. Due to a limit on party’s short names on ballot papers to five letters the party ran as MATIN.
Opinion polling
Results
Results by state
Nationalratswahl 2006 (Staerkste Partei im Regionalwahlkreis).png, Strongest party by constituency
Nationalratswahlen 2006 Gemeindekarte.png, Strongest party by municipality
Summary
*The ÖVP lost many of the votes they had taken from the FPÖ in the 2002 election.
*The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) lost fewer votes and thus regained a plurality.
*The Austrian Green Party received more than 11% of the votes and pulled ahead of the Freedom Party.
*The FPÖ increased their share of votes slightly but missed third place by about 500 votes.
*The BZÖ, which had split off from the FPÖ in 2005, crossed the threshold of 4% and will be represented in the new parliament.
*The Austrian Communist Party
The Communist Party of Austria (german: Kommunistische Partei Österreichs, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of Republic of German-Austria, German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest ...
(KPÖ) increased its share of votes to 1%.
*The list of Hans Peter Martin received 2.8%. Both his list and the KPÖ are below the 4% threshold that is necessary for parliamentary representation.
*The Liberal Forum
The Liberal Forum (german: Liberales Forum, LiF) was a centrist, liberal political party in Austria. The party was active from February 1993 to January 2014, when the party merged into NEOS – The New Austria.
A member of the Liberal Intern ...
decided not to stand in the election, citing the tight schedule as well as the lack of finances and a suitable party leader. However, on 3 September 2006 the SPÖ announced an electoral alliance with the LIF (some of the LIF's candidates will stand on the SPÖ's party list, ensuring that at least the LIF's chairman Alexander Zach will be a member of the next parliament).
References
External links
{{Elections in Austria
Elections in Austria
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
Austrian Parliament
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...