by Marcus Papadopoulos
IN A repeat of the legislative election of nine years ago, Austria’s far right made substantial gains in last Sunday’s parliamentary elections and may now end up as part of a new coalition governing the Alpine republic.
As Tribune went to press, preliminary results indicated that the Freedom Party of Heinz-Christian Strache had secured 18 per cent of the vote while the Alliance for Austria’s Future, led by Jorg Haider, had achieved 11 per cent. When combined, the votes of these two hard-right parties amount to 29 per cent of those who voted.
Sunday’s election was called after the ruling coalition, which comprised the Social Democrats and the conservative People’s Party, fell apart this summer due to internal divisions.
The Social Democrats emerged as the largest party with 30 per cent of the vote, followed by the People’s Party with 26 per cent. Austria’s President Heinz Fischer will now consult the leaders of the five parties which made it into parliament (including the Greens who got just under 10 per cent of the vote) and is likely to ask the leader of the Social Democrats, Werner Faymann, to form a coalition government.
Mr Faymann has already ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with either of the two radical right wing parties although Wilhelm Molterer, leader of the People’s Party, has not explicitly dismissed this option.
Speaking to Tribune, Professor Roger Eatwell, a leading expert on fascism at the University of Bath, said it was unwise to simply argue that Sunday’s election is evidence of a rise in neo-Nazism in Austria. He said “hostility to mainstream politicians” and opposition to immigration were important issues for much of the Austrian electorate.
He added: “This does not necessarily make most supporters of the Austrian extreme right Nazis or fascists. It is possible to raise legitimate questions about immigration without being a racist in the sense of hating or believing in hierarchies. There certainly is not the open attack on democracy which characterised historic Nazism, and willingness to use violence.”
However, Professor Eatwell noted that this form of “populist” politics “could pose a serious threat to democracy because of its style and themes”.
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