[pp.int.general] Elections in Austria
Max Lalouschek | Piratenpartei Österreichs
max.lalouschek at ppoe.or.at
Mon Sep 29 12:08:02 CEST 2008
Hey all,
I'm sitting here already quite a while not knowing what I should write.
Some of your media probably already wrote or said that there was a huge
right shift in Austria. It had to be expected to some extent (many lost
the trust - once again- in our grand coalition) but nobody really
expected it to be THAT huge.
Anyway, I'll give you a short overview of the results and will write
then about the possible consequences.
The results (FPÖ and BZÖ are the two populistic right wing parties):
Social-democrats (29,7%), Conservatives (25,6%), FPÖ (18%), BZÖ (11%),
Green party (9,8%)
It should be noted, that social-democrats and conservatives got their
worst results since their existence, although social-democrats gained
quite a lot of votes in the last weeks, fortunately enough to get the
first place.
It should also be noted, that this time the liberals tried once again
(after a break) to make it into parliament, but totally failed, getting
just 2%. It is possible that this was now the last time that the
liberals tried to get into parliament (which would mean the end of the
liberal party).
Consequences:
Oh dear. For social democrats, there are only two options now... a
coalition - once again - with conservatives or all alone as a minority
government. Both options are difficult.
And because of that, there is another option... and we had that
situation 1999 (when sanctions were imposed against Austria by the EU).
IF social democrats decide that none of these two options are possible,
conservatives (as the second biggest party) will have the assignment to
form a coalition. The conservatives will not hesitate to form such a
coalition with FPÖ and BZÖ. That will mean a conservative populistic
right wing government. Holy sh...ame.
Such a government would mean quite a loss in civil rights. Extensive
powers to police, extensive video/online/... surveillance, a lot of
pro-industry laws... and so on.
I really don't want to speak of the devil... but there is a possibility
that this will happen here. Anyway, it is unlikely that a decision will
be reached before some weeks or even months. Until then I hope the best.
Ciao!
Max Lalouschek
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