Leaders of political parties in Austria united to reject the idea of forming a coalition with the head of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) Herbert Kickl after his FPO came first in a parliamentary election on Sunday.
Projections showed the FPO winning for the first time, and with its highest ever vote share.
The most closely watched projection, by pollster Foresight for national broadcaster ORF, put it on 28.9% based on a count of 82.8% of ballots, with the conservative People’s Party (OVP)
second on 26.3%.
Abrasive and provocative, far-right leader Herbert Kickl has one of the lowest approval ratings among Austria's top politicians, yet he is the frontrunner in Sunday’s parliamentary election, which has at times felt like a referendum on him https://t.co/NAPLJKizYy pic.twitter.com/IUoS0CaQoV
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2024
The FPO would need to form a coalition with one or more parties to secure a parliamentary majority and build a stable government, but when party leaders held a discussion on ORF on
Sunday evening, no potential partners were forthcoming.
“I do not want you in government and I stand by that,” the leader of the fourth-placed, liberal Neos, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, said, addressing Kickl directly. “I simply believe it would not be good for our country.”
Of the four parliamentary parties other than the FPO, three have long ruled out a coalition with it altogether. Only the ruling OVP has left the door open to one, though OVP leader
Karl Nehammer has said his party will not join a government with Kickl in it, which he repeated after results came in.
The leader of the Social Democrats in Austria, Andreas Babler, also called for an alliance against the FPO.
Kickl said they should question their democratic credentials.
“I think there’s something you haven’t understood, and this goes for Karl Nehammer as well as you,” he responded to the Neos’ Meinl-Reisinger.
“You can continue your attacks in my direction but you’re forgetting something. I stand here only as an ambassador and as an advocate for many, many voters in this country.”
The first ever general election victory to the far-right FPO illustrates rising support for hard-right parties in Europe fueled by concern over immigration levels.
“What’s at stake is whether the FPO will appoint the chancellor or not,” said Kathrin Stainer-Haemmerle, a political science professor at the Carinthia University of Applied
Sciences.
“Should that happen, then I have to say the role of Austria in the European Union would be significantly different. Kickl has often said that (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban is a role model for him and he will stand by him.”
Kickl, who this year forged an alliance with Orban, opposes providing aid to Ukraine and wants sanctions against Russia withdrawn, arguing they are hurting Austria more than Moscow.
Victory for the FPO, which is critical of Islam and pledges tougher rules on asylum seekers, follows far-right gains in countries including the Netherlands, France and Germany.
Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of governments, has voiced reservations about the FPO because of its criticism of the EU and its failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The party opposes EU sanctions on Moscow, citing Austria’s neutrality.
He has hinted he might thwart Kickl, saying the constitution does not require him to ask the first-placed party to form a government, even though that has long been the convention.
The FPO, which wants to stop granting asylum altogether and build a “fortress Austria” preventing migrants from entering, was initially led by a former Nazi lawmaker in the 1950s.
It has sought to moderate its image, but new controversy about its past surfaced at the weekend, when a video published by Austrian newspaper Der Standard showed members of the party attending a funeral where a song popular with the Nazi SS was sung.
(REUTERS)
