the far right triumphs in the legislative elections

Special envoy to Austria

For the first time in the history of contemporary Austria, the far-right FPÖ party came first in the legislative elections on Sunday. According to the first estimates from the public channel ORF, the Freedom Party, according to its acronym, won a clear victory, with 29%, and improved its score by 13 points compared to the 2019 election. With 26% of the votes, the party Conservative ÖVP of Chancellor Karl Nehammer is only in second place, down 11.2 points. “The FPO wrote history”, welcomed its secretary general, Michael Schnedtlitz.

Under the influence of its new leader, Herbet Kickl, the FPÖ has become a deeply nationalist party. Even though a former SS leader (Friedrich Peter) was one of its presidents, the group today takes care to keep its neo-Nazi branch at bay. Conversely, it remains quite visible in certain German states of the former GDR. Anti-migrants, its voters willingly carry their racism over their shoulders and their leader Herbert Kickl declares himself in favor of “remigration” for foreigners “who think they don’t have to respect our rules.” This concept was forged by the identity movement.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with that word at all,” declared Kickl during his last public meeting in Vienna. In the European Parliament, the FPÖ sits with Viktor Orban’s Hungarian Fidesz and the French RN. However, Marine Le Pen had ruled out sitting in Strasbourg with the German AfD precisely because officials from this party advocated “remigration”. Furthermore, the FPÖ is hostile to sanctions against Russia and conspiratorial. During the pandemic, Herbert Kickl accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of “wanting to form a new man”. He also denounces the “gender madness and the cult of the rainbow”.

Towards a coalition?

His victory at the polls does not mean that Herbert Kickl, the party leader, will be invested as chancellor of the Federal Republic. With 29% of the votes, the latter must find other partners to govern and the potential candidates are very few. Unlike Germany, where his status remains strictly ceremonial, President Alexander Van der Bellen, a member of the Greens party, should logically refuse Herbert Kickl the privilege of forming a government, considering that the latter does not receive his support. ” trust “. Furthermore, the current chancellor, Karl Nehammer, the only man likely to conditionally form a coalition with the FPÖ, harbors strong animosity towards the character Kickl.

Also read“We no longer pay for them, they can return from where they left”: the far right favorite of the legislative elections in Austria

On the eve of the election, the conservative leader ruled out forming a coalition with the far-right party, in the event that its leader were to enter the government. If his veto were to be confirmed, the members of the FPÖ would then have to give up investing in their leader – to whom they truly worship – in the hope of being able to govern: this scenario is unlikely given the influence of Herbert Kickl over the party. For their part, the business community readily displays their preference for a coalition between conservatives and the extreme right.

In finearithmetic and political logic could lead Karl Nehammer’s OVP to form a grand coalition with the social democrats (20% of the votes, stable), even if their economic programs are divergent. The addition of a third liberal force would nevertheless be necessary: ​​thus Austria would be the first to have a tripartite coalition. A constellation which does not bode well for great stability, if we judge the German experience. So Herbert Kickl might prefer to bide his time. The winner of the elections intends to pursue a more ambitious objective: “lead a liberation struggle against the system”