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| Europe | |
| Austria turns, slightly, to left | |
| 2006-10-03 | |
| In an election shadowed by fears about immigration, voters in Austria rebuked the governing People's Party on Sunday, handing a narrow victory to the Social Democratic Party and leaving two extreme-right parties as outspoken players on the political landscape. The conservative People's Party, led by Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, won 34.2 percent of the vote, a loss of 8 percentage points from the election in 2002. The Social Democrats won 35.7 percent, raising the prospect that their leader, Alfred Gusenbauer, could replace Schüssel as chancellor, perhaps in a grand coalition with the People's Party. While political analysts expected the People's Party to lose ground, the extent of the loss was a surprise, and a stinging reversal for a chancellor who once reaped credit for Austria's robust economy.
For Jörg Haider, the flamboyant rightist leader whose party has been a partner in Schüssel's coalition government, the election was a close call with political extinction. His party, the Alliance for Austria's Future, appeared to have held on to seats in Parliament, winning 4.2 percent of the vote, just above the required 4 percent threshold. If it had fallen below 4 percent - as pollsters predicted - Haider would have lost his presence in national politics. The Freedom Party, which Haider led for two decades before quitting last year after a power struggle to start his new party, won 11.2 percent of the vote - a result that positions it to play a strong opposition role. It campaigned on a virulent anti-foreigner platform, calling for Austria to expel illegal immigrants and close the doors to new arrivals. Placards for the Freedom Party's leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, depicted an Austrian flag over the slogan "Daham Statt Islam," a colloquialism that translates as "Home Instead of Islam." | |
| Posted by:Fred |