A state election in Lower Austria on Sunday has seen Austria’s traditional ‘big tent’ parties, the conservative ÖVP and the social democrat SPÖ, suffer historic defeats, while the far-right continues to grow rapidly.
Lower Austria is the country’s largest state, home to some 1.7 million people. The state, which surrounds the capital Vienna, is also the Austrian conservatives’ heartlands. Aside from conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer, several key ÖVP ministers hail from there.
On Sunday, their hold on the state was severely weakened. Less than 40% of voters voted for the party, as per initial results on Sunday night, resulting in the worst-ever result for Lower Austria’s conservatives.
In the face of record voter participation of some 72%, the ÖVP’s hold on Lower Austria through an absolute majority has been broken. Spitzenkandidat Johanna Mikl-Leitner explained that her party was looking to build a government with the social democrat SPÖ or the far-right FPÖ.
Much like the ÖVP, the social democrats were Sunday’s biggest losers. Some 20% of the vote lagged behind initial expectations in the face of a deeply unpopular conservative-green government in Vienna.
To add to the ÖVP’s woes, right-wing extremists stormed the party offices in Lower Austria as voters were heading to the polls. Three masked men entered the building and unfurled banners with extremist slogans before being taken into police custody.
“Today, right-wing extremist identitarians have once again shown the danger they pose to democracy,” commented Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, himself a conservative from Lower Austria. He went on to make a reference to Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria’s far-right FPÖ, terming the invaders his “friends”.
The FPÖ itself is the clear winner of the state election, with gains of more than 10%, receiving about 25% of the vote. The party now looks poised to take home the 2024 Austrian federal election.
Lower Austria’s Greens and the liberal NEOS made small gains, climbing to about 6.5% of the vote each.
(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
