Austria parliament election summary - October 1999

Total 183 seats

Party	Party Leader	This Election	Last Election
Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPO)	Viktor Klima	65	71
Austrian People's Party (OVP)	Wolfgang Schuessel	52	53
Austrian Freedom Party (FPO)	Joerg Haider	52	40
Liberal Forum (LF)	Heide Schmidt	0	10
The Greens (GA)	Alexander van der Bellen	14	9

In the October's election the far-right Freedom Party became the second largest party in Austria, paving an almost inevitable path to its entering government as a coalition partner n February 2000.

The party finished sixth behind the ruling Social Democrats and ahead of its coalition partner, the conservative People's Party.

"Austrians are not angry, they're bored," commented Time magazine, but Europe and the world Jewish community were not so sanguine in their reactions.

The boredom reading of events was not unsupportable. The Social Democrats ran Austria for more than 50 years, and the fact that they've been in coalition with the conservatives for the past 12 years left voters feeling there was no real opposition besides Haider.

But there is also a lot of foreigner-bashing and resentment that Haider skillfully exploited. Other commentators have pointed out that it was only the failure of his squabbling opponents to reach a coalition deal that allowed Austrian Adolf Hitler to Germany's 1933 election. And while conceding there are massive differences in character and outlook, critics note that Haider too hauls a mixed bag of rightist and leftist economic theories vicious hatred of non-German speakers, and an odd paranoia about his wealthy and comfortable country being badly done by. There is a glint of imperial megalomania in his eye which should be laughable in a little country like Austria in this day and age. But it isn't.

Other related articles on this subject:

Some reported reactions of Austrians
Austrian Attitudes to Jews and Minorities
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