Austria’s Far-Right Blocked from Power Despite Election Victory

[Social Media]

 

The far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) has been prevented from taking power despite emerging as the winner of the national election. FPO leader Herbert Kickl has condemned the newly formed government coalition—comprising the conservative People’s Party, the centre-left Social Democrats, and the liberal Neos—labeling it a “coalition of losers.”

 

Following five months of political deadlock, Austria witnessed an unprecedented political arrangement on Thursday, as these three mainstream parties joined forces to form a government. Christian Stocker, the leader of the People’s Party, will assume the role of chancellor, while Social Democrat leader Andreas Babler will serve as vice-chancellor.

 

Despite securing 28.9 per cent of the vote in September’s election, the FPO did not gain enough seats to govern alone. The party faced outright rejection from all other key political groups, which refused to cooperate with it. As a result, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen initially tasked Karl Nehammer, the then-leader of the conservatives and incumbent chancellor, with forming a government. However, when this attempt failed in January, the responsibility was temporarily handed to the FPO.

 

While the so-called “firewall against the far-right” is not as firmly entrenched in Austria as in Germany, mainstream parties still maintained a united front against the FPO. In Germany, conservative leader Friedrich Merz recently attempted to push stricter migration laws with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany party, but his efforts were ultimately abandoned due to internal opposition within his Christian Democratic Union.

 

The FPO, which has previously governed Austria twice, struggled to secure an alliance with the conservatives this time around, largely due to disagreements over foreign policy. The FPO is believed to advocate for closer ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a stance that proved to be a significant sticking point.

 

With the FPO’s coalition efforts collapsing in January, Austria’s mainstream parties resumed discussions in a desperate bid to prevent new elections, which polls indicate could deliver an even stronger mandate to the far-right. Their eventual agreement has been humorously dubbed the “sugar coalition” due to the resemblance of the parties’ colors to jelly beans.

 

However, the alliance is expected to face significant challenges in governance. Many view it as an uneasy compromise rather than a unified front, driven more by the fear of an emboldened FPO than by ideological alignment. Recent polls suggest FPO support has surged to 34 per cent, making the party a strong contender in any future election.

 

Following the announcement of the new coalition, Kickl remained defiant, declaring: “Today is not the end, I’ll be back, no question.”

Austria has historically been a key testing ground for collaboration between conservatives and the far-right in German-speaking nations. The FPO first entered government in 2000 as part of a coalition with the conservatives and rejoined them in 2017. However, its recent exclusion underscores the broader European trend of mainstream parties resisting the normalization of far-right influence, even as its popularity continues to grow.

 

Based on a report by The Telegraph  2025-03-01

 

 

[Tailwagsdog]

Just like Thailand, the party with the most votes is excluded from participation.

[hotsun]

America is the only true democracy left. All other elections are just for show

[newbee2022]

13 minutes ago, hotsun said:

America is the only true democracy left. All other elections are just for show

I like these jokes on AN 🤣🤣🤣

[soalbundy]

42 minutes ago, Tailwagsdog said:

Just like Thailand, the party with the most votes is excluded from participation.

The 'most votes' doesn't mean it has a majority, while 30% want the FPO in power 70% do not.

[WDSmart]

This is the same problem as the USA's concerning the general election results vs. the Electoral College results. It's the difference between a democracy and a republic. 

[Watawattana]

I guess next time more people need get out and vote for the FPO so they get over 50% and the other parties then can't do what they've done this time.  Tough tollies, the FPO needs to build a bridge and get over it.  Österreich has its own constitutional electoral system and the voters have spoken.  Unlucky FPO.

[Yagoda]

Its National Socialism all over again, except this time the enemy is anyone who is not an actual part of the group think.

 

The USA needs to completely withdraw from Europe. Israel will give us an airbase, and we will have Greenland

[Chomper Higgot]

Plays well to people who don’t know how coalition governments are formed.

 

[Harrisfan]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Its National Socialism all over again, except this time the enemy is anyone who is not an actual part of the group think.

 

The USA needs to completely withdraw from Europe. Israel will give us an airbase, and we will have Greenland

Europe is collapsing like 100 years ago.

[JonnyF]

It seems all you have to do now is label your opponents far right and you can subvert Democracy.

 

Sad times.

 

The 2 party system is starting to look better and better, as long as one of them is honest enough to do what they said they would do. Like Trump. 

 

God bless America. 

[Yagoda]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

It seems all you have to do now is label your opponents far right and you can subvert Democracy.

 

Sad times.

 

The 2 party system is starting to look better and better, as long as one of them is honest enough to do what they said they would do. Like Trump. 

 

God bless America. 

Dude is there hope for you guys?

[RayC]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Its National Socialism all over again, except this time the enemy is anyone who is not an actual part of the group think.

 

The USA needs to completely withdraw from Europe. Israel will give us an airbase, and we will have Greenland

 

You're doing a very passable imitation of a National Socialist yourself.

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Its National Socialism all over again, except this time the enemy is anyone who is not an actual part of the group think.

 

The USA needs to completely withdraw from Europe. Israel will give us an airbase, and we will have Greenland

Visions of grandeur, the USA's time as the world's policeman and moral authority has disappeared into the waste basket of history.

[RayC]

34 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

It seems all you have to do now is label your opponents far right and you can subvert Democracy.

 

Sad times.

 

The 2 party system is starting to look better and better, as long as one of them is honest enough to do what they said they would do. Like Trump. 

 

God bless America. 

 

The only way democracy has been subverted in Austria was by not allowing the FPO - as the largest party - the first chance to form a government. However, it clearly made no difference as no other parties are willing to work with them.

 

The situation now is a coalition government which has a majority in parliament and represents a majority of the votes cast. Seems very democratic to me. However, whether this coalition administration can remain intact and govern successful are totally different matters.

 

The two-party system in the UK often returns governments with large majorities, but it is inherently undemocratic. The last time that a single party received >50% of the votes cast was in 1931. The US system isn't much better as everything hinges on winning the 'swing states': Clinton won 2.9m more votes than Trump in 2016 but Trump still became President.

[Yagoda]

35 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Visions of grandeur, the USA's time as the world's policeman and moral authority has disappeared into the waste basket of history.

So what. We rule.

[Yagoda]

39 minutes ago, RayC said:

 

You're doing a very passable imitation of a National Socialist yourself.

In what way (this should be good).

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

So what. We rule.

Wake up, you couldn't even beat Asians in flip flops or Mullahs in turbans.

[Yagoda]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

Wake up, you couldn't even beat Asians in flip flops or Mullahs in turbans.

I have a house shoes car booze ladies weed democracy flushtoilet how bout them?

 

Winner

[soalbundy]

Just now, Yagoda said:

I have a house shoes car booze ladies weed democracy flushtoilet how bout them?

 

Winner

No, loser, you had all that before spending a ton of money and losing thousands of lives to kill some dirt farmers who never did you any harm.