The 2012 Austrian Election Interlude: The rise of Frank Stronach and more ...

[Hash]

Ugh FPTP. I wish all those who complain about the PR/party list systems in their countries, even if they're obviously flawed too, would realize that FPTP is just 100x more horrible.

It sounds like they're proposing MMP, not FPTP. Or am I reading that wrong?

Yeah, it's MMP, but with a disproportionate dose of FPTP.

[Tender Branson]

What are the chances that this party makes it into parliament? Are they getting a lot of attention in the media or are they a fringe group? Sounds like a good party from what you say there.

They want to win 10% of the vote.

But the party was launched just today, so they have not received a lot of media coverage yet.

I also don't know how much money they have for the campaign.

But I need to read through their 30-page party platform right now and see what their actual positions are on all the issues (there's a lot in there to read).

But currently this looks like the best party to vote for in 2013. Or I'll stick with the Greens.

[Tender Branson]

Here's the full Gallup poll from yesterday:



BTW:

After reading their 30 page party platform paper, that new "NEOS" party seems similar to the Stronach party (just without the big money) and being much more pro-European in a Liberal sense (they favor a United States of Europe with Austria becoming a federal state). The Council of Europe should be transformed into a second legislative chamber and the President of the Countil should be directly elected by the voters in the member states. The government should be appointed by the President of the Council, with hearings in the 2 chambers and members need to be approved there.

Also, NEOS has a special focus on improving the education system, something the Stronach team is more vague about. NEOS also favors a voluntary social year, so I suppose they are also against the draft (it doesn't actually say anything about draft/professional army in their paper, but their main positions are still modified until next April).

Also, they favor that universities can collect tuition fees and implement student quotas on an autonomous basis. They also want tuition fees to be pre-financed to students by the state, so that students can pay back the fees when they have a full-time job.

[Tender Branson]

A few pictures from the launch yesterday:







The new party leader Matthias Strolz:

[Tender Branson]

http://wahlkabine.at/2012

has their new 2012 edition online now !

All parties except the Team Stronach have participated in answering 25 key questions:

SPÖ
ÖVP
FPÖ
Grüne
BZÖ
KPÖ
NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Piratenpartei
Liberales Forum

...

My result:



It seems I have to stick with the Greens next year ...

I'll post the 25 questions and the party positions later:

http://wahlkabine.at/wahlkabine/2012/standpunkte

[Tender Branson]

Question 1:

Should Austria keep the military draft ?

 No - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
Yes - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 2:

Should asylum seekers get an immediate work permit after they apply for asylum in the country ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 3:

Should it remain possible that children are detained and put into detention pending deportation ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
Yes - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 4:

Should a "Culture-Flatrate" be introduced (similar to the broadcasting fee) that would make it legal to download and save copyrighted material from the Internet ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 5:

Should homosexual couples be eqauted to heterosexual couples when it comes to the adoption law ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

[Tender Branson]

Question 6:

Should it be made possible to vote online in future elections in Austria ?

 No - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 7:

Should every broadcasted piece from the state broadcaster ORF be made accessible in an online archive ?

Yes - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 8:

Should all official documents from the national and local governments be made accessible to the public as long as they are not protected by data privacy laws or by security reasons ?

Yes - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 9:

Should parts of the Health Care System be privatized ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 10:

Should a new Health Care System be created only for non-EU-foreigners that co-exists with the existing Health Care System for Austrian and EU-citizens ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
Yes - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

[Tender Branson]

Question 11:

Should there be an unconditional basic income ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 12:

Should the religious and culturally defined circumcision of male infants be prohibited by law ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 13:

Should a law be passed to legalize private copies of Internet contents ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
Yes - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 14:

Should the non-commercial use and spreading of digital data be a basic right ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 15:

Tuition fees for universities ?

 No - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

[Franzl]

Guess I'd vote SPÖ, believe it or not. Possibly Green....but SPÖ probably to help guarantee they would lead another "grand" coalition (not very grand in Austria these days).

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

A new party has been founded in Austria today: "NEOS - The new Austria"

Sounds like one of those annoying "increased spending with lower taxes" party that promise everything to everyone, a.k.a. pre-coalition LibDems. When xenophobic parties says it they at-least pretend they can make up the difference by cutting immigration.

Not to mention their proposed election-system sounds awful. I'm all for abolishing unnecessary second chambers though.     

[Niemeyerite]

Neos seems to be a party for gay people =P

[Tender Branson]

Neos seems to be a party for gay people =P

Because of the Pink as party colour ?

[Tender Branson]

Here are the final 10 questions:

Question 16:

Should Austria spend more money on education and research ?

Yes - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 17:

Should there be seperate classes for immigrant children with low German-knowledge ?

 No - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
Yes - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 18:

Should Austria exit the Euro-Zone ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 19:

Should Austria advocate within the EU that countries with financial problems get excluded from the Eurozone ?

 No - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
Yes - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
Yes - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 20:

Should the economic benefits for companies be cut if they refuse to hire young apprentices ?

 No - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 21:

Do you think capital and wealth should be taxed higher in Austria ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 22:

Should costs for contraception and abortions be covered by the Health Care System ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
 No - Liberales Forum

Question 23:

Should there be quotas for women on party lists in a parliamentary election in Austria ?

Yes - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
 No - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 24:

Should Austria spend more money on development aid ?

Yes - SPÖ
Yes - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
Yes - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
Yes - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
Yes - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

Question 25:

Should Austrian combat forces participate in military operations of the EU Battle Groups ?

Yes - SPÖ
 No - ÖVP
 No - FPÖ
 No - Grüne
 No - BZÖ
 No - KPÖ
Yes - NEOS - Das Neue Österreich
 No - Piratenpartei
Yes - Liberales Forum

[Tender Branson]

Many of these questions also have official explanations from the parties on why they are "Yes" or "No" and how important these questions are for them.

If you want to know the explanations for a few of these questions, just quote them and I can translate it for you ...

[Kitteh]

Not surprised in the least.

[MaxQue]

By the way, the question order seems to be randomised.

Green: 291
SPÖ: 261
KPÖ: 256
Piraten: 244
LIF: 82
NEOS: 48
BZÖ: -82
ÖVP: -111
FPÖ: -165

[Tender Branson]

New Market poll for the Standard newspaper:

27% SPÖ
23% ÖVP
22% FPÖ
15% Greens
10% Team Stronach
  1% BZÖ
  2% Others

50-47 lead for the SPÖVP government. BZÖ is below the 4% barrier.

Direct vote for Chancellor:

21% Faymann (SPÖ)
16% Spindelegger (ÖVP)
11% Strache (FPÖ)
  9% Stronach (Team Stronach)
  7% Glawischnig (Greens)
  3% Bucher (BZÖ)

http://derstandard.at/1350259576445/Sechs-von-zehn-halten-Oesterreich-fuer-ungerecht

[Tender Branson]

By the way, the question order seems to be randomised.

Yeah, I know, but with my translations I think you can figure it out ...

[MaxQue]

By the way, the question order seems to be randomised.

Yeah, I know, but with my translations I think you can figure it out ...

Oh, Google Translate does a good job and when it's not clear, your questions is clearing up things

Green: 291
SPÖ: 261
KPÖ: 256
Piraten: 244
LIF: 82
NEOS: 48
BZÖ: -82
ÖVP: -111
FPÖ: -165

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Grüne 306
 
KPÖ 267
 
PIRATEN 245
 
SPÖ 231
 
LIF 134
 
NEOS 78
 
-44 ÖVP

-88 BZÖ

-142 FPÖ

[Leftbehind]

A new party has been founded in Austria today: "NEOS - The new Austria"

Sounds like one of those annoying "increased spending with lower taxes" party that promise everything to everyone, a.k.a. pre-coalition LibDems. When xenophobic parties says it they at-least pretend they can make up the difference by cutting immigration.

Not to mention their proposed election-system sounds awful. I'm all for abolishing unnecessary second chambers though.     

Really? The past Lib Dems hardly promised everything, desperate to prove themselves 'moderate', and what they did offer, they tended to balance out with mansion tax, scrapping of trident etc. I'd say NEOS look far closer to the current Lib Dems: the only thing stopping them being seen as your standard right-of-centre neoliberal party is their equally liberal social stances, and even then it shouldn't.

[Tender Branson]

New Carinthia poll by the Humaninstitut (which has been notoriously pro-BZÖ in all their polls):

[Tender Branson]

Austria billionaire Stronach party allowed in parliament

A party set up by an Austro-Canadian billionaire six weeks ago is being allowed into parliament in Vienna without contesting an election.

Frank Stronach, 80, launched his party at the end of September.

Speaker Barbara Prammer awarded parliamentary status to Team Stronach, after it persuaded five MPs to defect from a small right-wing alliance.

Born in Austria, the car parts magnate spent almost sixty years in Canada, where he built his fortune.

According to opinion polls, his new party has attracted the support of an estimated 10% of the electorate, even though it is yet to define its policies clearly.

Mr Stronach has vowed to shake up the eurozone, but has said a full party programme will not be decided until April.

Autumn election

He has said that a country stands and falls by its own currency and believes the euro has made Europe uncompetitive.

Austria holds general elections next autumn and the decision to allow a new party into parliament in the form of the five defected MPs was not without controversy.

Frank Stronach was born into a working class family in southern Austria during the Great Depression.

After the Second World War he emigrated to Canada where he established a small manufacturing company in Toronto.

That enterprise grew over the years into Magna International, North America's largest automobile parts manufacturer.

Mr Stronach unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Canadian parliament in 1988.

His daughter, Belinda, was an MP in Ottawa for four years. She was elected as a Conservative, but defected to the Liberal Party and became Minister of Human Resources in the government of Paul Martin.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20250157

[Tender Branson]

New Gallup/Ö24 poll out today (SPÖVP government gaining a bit, FPÖ/Greens losing a bit):



Direct vote for Chancellor:



Favorable ratings of party leaders:



http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Umfrage-SPOe-kriselt-Frank-lacht/84647217

[Tender Branson]

New IMAS poll for the "Kronen Zeitung":



http://www.krone.at/Oesterreich/IMAS_Team_Stronach_hat_die_Gruenen_eingeholt-Liegen_Kopf_an_Kopf-Story-340756