Austrian Election - October 1, 2006

[Tender Branson]

New Poll:

15-08-2006: Fessel-GfK

ÖVP - 39%
SPÖ - 36%
Greens - 11,5%
FPÖ - 6,5%
BZÖ - 3,5%
HPM - 3,5%

A result like this one would mean a SPÖ/Green coalition?

With the BZÖ and HPM not in parliament it would either be a ÖVP-SPÖ coalition, SPÖ-Green or ÖVP-Green. ÖVP-Green is a likely possibility after the elections. In polls Austrians favor a Grand Coalition, then ÖVP-Green over SPÖ-Green.

Wouldn't both the SPÖ and the Greens prefer to form a coalition with each other? Or do they fear a possible backlash? Is the Red-Green coalition really that unpopular?

During the campaign everyone is working against each other and the real coalition agreements will be made after the election. During the campaign the Greens denounced the Social Democrats as "weak" and that they are doing everything to lose the election and therefore made the Conservatives their main target. So, there are no real preferences among the Greens. Ideologically they are more on the SDs side but we never had a Red-Green Coalition here, so i don´t know if they want a coalition with the SD instead of the Conservatives. We have a ÖVP-Green coalition in Upper Austria which is doing very well. Together with Salzburg it has the lowest unemployment rate in Austria at 3%. So, people like black-green.

Other news:

HPM got the obligatory signatures in 6 of the 9 states to be on the ballot on Oct 1.

The Communist Party (KPÖ) got the signatures in 4 states.

The Freedom Party (FPÖ) got all 2.500 signatures to be on the ballot.

The sign. deadline is August 25.

Another new poll came out today:

NEWS-Market

ÖVP - 40%
SPÖ - 34%
Greens - 11%
FPÖ - 7%
HPM - 4%
BZÖ - 3%

Currently the BZÖ would not be in the parliament.

And there will be 12 debates between the parties starting Sept. 5.

[Middle-aged Europe]

During the campaign everyone is working against each other and the real coalition agreements will be made after the election. During the campaign the Greens denounced the Social Democrats as "weak" and that they are doing everything to lose the election and therefore made the Conservatives their main target. So, there are no real preferences among the Greens. Ideologically they are more on the SDs side but we never had a Red-Green Coalition here, so i don´t know if they want a coalition with the SD instead of the Conservatives. We have a ÖVP-Green coalition in Upper Austria which is doing very well. Together with Salzburg it has the lowest unemployment rate in Austria at 3%. So, people like black-green.

Ah, thanks.

And there will be 12 debates between the parties starting Sept. 5.

12? Within three weeks? Wow. Won't the public become rather tired of it soon? I imagine that the TV ratings will be very low in the end.

[Tender Branson]

12? Within three weeks? Wow. Won't the public become rather tired of it soon? I imagine that the TV ratings will be very low in the end.

LOL. Indeed. Normal people aren´t interested in that and I too will watch just the debates incl. ÖVP, SPÖ and Greens, as will do many others.

[Tender Branson]

Update:

The parties will start their intensive campaign next week, beginning with the Social Democrats on August 26 in Vienna. The Conservatives will start their official campaign 1 week later on Sept. 2 in Graz, the capital of Styria, which is a "swing state" this year.

On Thursday there was a major blow for the Conservatives because in the elections to the Austrian Broadcasting Company CEO their backed incumbent lost to the Social Democratic backed candidate.

The SD made clear today that they will only enter a coalition with the Greens or the Conservatives. The Freedom Party said it will probably stay in opposition after the elections.

So, therefore i expect either a Grand Coalition, Red-Green or Black-Green.

So far it´s very quiet when it comes to campaign issues. A big theme will be "Home Care" of elderly people, which is done mostly illegally by foreigners of the poor eastern Europe. It´s about the same story with your illegal immigrants issue ... Other major issues will be the economy, unemployment, ...

[Tender Branson]

The so called "Wahlkabine (polling booth)" is online again. It´s similar to the German "Wahlomat" which tells you what party fits you best by filling out questions to different issues. Those who speak German can try it out if you like to

www.wahlkabine.at

[Tender Branson]

The questions from the "Wahlkabine" are: (You can say yes, no, dunno and then you can weight the question if it is important to you or not)

1 ) Should the federal voting age be lowered to 16 ?

2 ) Do you think there should be a limit of 100 mph on parts of Austrian highways ?

3 ) Should public space (parks, public transport, public buildings) be controlled by video surveillance ?

4 ) Are you in favor of the liberalisation of shopping hours ?

5 ) Are you in favor of the decriminalization of soft drugs like dope and cannabis ?

6 ) Are you in favor of the cancellation of the Eurofighter jets ?

7 ) Are you in favor of party campaign money getting funded federally only when they have at least 50% women in the parliament club ?

8 ) Should workers with higher income pay more for the Social Security System ?

9 ) Are you in favor of limitation by law of federal campaign money for parties ?

10 ) Should tuition fees for universities by abolished again ?

11 ) Do you favor a EU-membership of Turkey ?

12 ) Should children with low German speaking skills be tought sperately in own classes ?

13 ) Should there be tougher federal control of banks ?

14 ) Are you in favor of a basic income ?

15 ) Should the number of representatives in the Austrian Parliament be lowered ?

16 ) Should long term unemployed be forced to make some kind of community service ?

17 ) Are you in favor that the different forms of Austrian schools should be merged into a comprehensive school ?

18 ) Are you in favor of electronic shackles for criminals who are on parole ?

19 ) Should the Child Benefit be retained ?

20 ) Should the wearing of visible religious symbols by public servants be allowed ?

21 ) Should art which is polarizing society be funded federally ?

22 ) Should Austria put more money into aid for developing countries?

23 ) Are you in favor that members of unions can be a member of parliament for any party in the future ?

24 ) Are you in favor of deportation of criminal people which do not have Austrian Citizenship and regardless of their time of residence in Austria ?

25 ) Should the federal government fund the rail traffic more than the street traffic ?

26 ) Should the independant Austrian Broadcasting Company be controlled more stricly by the parliament ?

What are your opinions ?

[Colin]

Results:

OVP: 40
BZO: 14
Grune: -91
FPO: -100
KPO: -110
SPO: -169

I'm sorry to say this but Austria has a horrible party system. You guys need a true liberal party like most other European countries. Every since Liberals Forum disintigrated this whole political spectrum is unrepresented.

[minionofmidas]

Greens 322
KPÖ 321
SPÖ 181
ÖVP -81
BZÖ -141
FPÖ -230

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

KPÖ 100
Grüne 70
SPÖ 40
ÖVP 30
BZÖ -45
FPÖ -100    

[minionofmidas]

You dirty rotten Commie you!

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Wasn't entirely sure how the weighting thing worked, and wasn't entirely sure what all the questions meant, but...

1. KPÖ
2. Grüne
3. SPÖ
4. ÖVP
5. BZÖ
6. FPÖ    

[minionofmidas]

It's a Communist invasion!

[Tender Branson]

I did the early vote without indicating the importance of the questions. So now i did and the Result is:

Communists 94
Greens (which i´m probably voting for) 57
BZÖ 42
ÖVP 34
SPÖ 14
FPÖ -110

This is far the better result than presviously because i´m left leaning and would support either a Red-Green, Black-Green or Grand Coalition, but i want the Greens in control this year.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Wasn't entirely sure how the weighting thing worked, and wasn't entirely sure what all the questions meant, but...

1. KPÖ
2. Grüne
3. SPÖ
4. ÖVP
5. BZÖ
6. FPÖ    

That's identical to mine.

[Tender Branson]

Too bad they didn´t include Hans-Peter Martins List, because he will get around 4%+, but anyway nobody wants to have him in the next government. At least not for now. Today the FPÖ said they could form a coalition with the Social Dems but only when the Governor of my state Gabriele Burgstaller (SD-Salzburg) is made chancellor. She´s very popular here and among Austrian voters but she said she wants to stay governor in Salzburg until 2009. Ok, i will go watch the Champions League Qualification between Salzburg and Valencia now. Go Bulls Go

[Colin]

What are the policies of HPM List? Wiki seems very vague on what he and his party stands for. It seems mostly like an anti-corruption party.

[??????????]

1 ) Should the federal voting age be lowered to 16 ? No

2 ) Do you think there should be a limit of 100 mph on parts of Austrian highways ? No

3 ) Should public space (parks, public transport, public buildings) be controlled by video surveillance ? Maybe

4 ) Are you in favor of the liberalisation of shopping hours ? Yes

5 ) Are you in favor of the decriminalization of soft drugs like dope and cannabis ? No

6 ) Are you in favor of the cancellation of the Eurofighter jets ? Yes

7 ) Are you in favor of party campaign money getting funded federally only when they have at least 50% women in the parliament club ? No

8 ) Should workers with higher income pay more for the Social Security System ? No

9 ) Are you in favor of limitation by law of federal campaign money for parties ? No

10 ) Should tuition fees for universities by abolished again ? No

11 ) Do you favor a EU-membership of Turkey ? No

12 ) Should children with low German speaking skills be tought sperately in own classes ? Yes

13 ) Should there be tougher federal control of banks ? No

14 ) Are you in favor of a basic income ? Heck NO

15 ) Should the number of representatives in the Austrian Parliament be lowered ? N/A

16 ) Should long term unemployed be forced to make some kind of community service ? Yes (if they are receiving public benefits)

17 ) Are you in favor that the different forms of Austrian schools should be merged into a comprehensive school ? No

18 ) Are you in favor of electronic shackles for criminals who are on parole ? Yes

19 ) Should the Child Benefit be retained ? Unsure

20 ) Should the wearing of visible religious symbols by public servants be allowed ? Yes, of course.

21 ) Should art which is polarizing society be funded federally ? No

22 ) Should Austria put more money into aid for developing countries? No

23 ) Are you in favor that members of unions can be a member of parliament for any party in the future ? Yes

24 ) Are you in favor of deportation of criminal people which do not have Austrian Citizenship and regardless of their time of residence in Austria ? Yes

25 ) Should the federal government fund the rail traffic more than the street traffic ? Yes

26 ) Should the independant Austrian Broadcasting Company be controlled more stricly by the parliament ? NO

[Middle-aged Europe]

Without having weighted any question:

Grüne 85
SPÖ 75
KPÖ 70
ÖVP 35
BZÖ -25
FPÖ -75

[Tender Branson]

What are the policies of HPM List? Wiki seems very vague on what he and his party stands for. It seems mostly like an anti-corruption party.

He will release his official campaign programm in 1 week, but it will focus on direct democracy, to uphold the Neutrality of Austria, fair economic policy and jobs, environment protection and animal protection, referendum on the EU-consititution and as you said anti-corruption measures in politics. But even his homepage is very vaguely about it. But i think on 30 August he will have a clear program. He also has the 2.600 signatures needed to be on the ballot. He has more than 8.000 so far.

Also the Communist Party (KPÖ) has all signatures to be on the ballot nationwide. And the Socialist Left Party (SLP) has the 500 needed in Vienna (they will only stand there).

Plus a new poll came out today:

News-Market

ÖVP - 38%
SPÖ - 36%
Greens - 10%
FPÖ - 7%
BZÖ - 4%
HPM - 4%
Others - 1%

Could be a tight race for 1st place now !

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Here's what I said:

1 ) Should the federal voting age be lowered to 16 ? No

2 ) Do you think there should be a limit of 100 mph on parts of Austrian highways ? No

3 ) Should public space (parks, public transport, public buildings) be controlled by video surveillance ? No

4 ) Are you in favor of the liberalisation of shopping hours ? I'm not sure what this means really, but I voted yes

5 ) Are you in favor of the decriminalization of soft drugs like dope and cannabis ? Yes

6 ) Are you in favor of the cancellation of the Eurofighter jets ? Don't know what this means

7 ) Are you in favor of party campaign money getting funded federally only when they have at least 50% women in the parliament club ? No. A lower percentage is a good idea under PR, but requring a female majority is just too high

8 ) Should workers with higher income pay more for the Social Security System ? Yes

9 ) Are you in favor of limitation by law of federal campaign money for parties ? Not sure what the law is

10 ) Should tuition fees for universities by abolished again ? Yes

11 ) Do you favor a EU-membership of Turkey ? No

12 ) Should children with low German speaking skills be tought sperately in own classes ? No

13 ) Should there be tougher federal control of banks ? Not sure since I don't know the current laws

14 ) Are you in favor of a basic income ? I assume this is the mimimum wage, in which case I voted yes

15 ) Should the number of representatives in the Austrian Parliament be lowered ? No

16 ) Should long term unemployed be forced to make some kind of community service ? No

17 ) Are you in favor that the different forms of Austrian schools should be merged into a comprehensive school ? No (I assume this means colleges right?)

18 ) Are you in favor of electronic shackles for criminals who are on parole ? No

19 ) Should the Child Benefit be retained ? Yes

20 ) Should the wearing of visible religious symbols by public servants be allowed ? Yes

21 ) Should art which is polarizing society be funded federally ? Yes

22 ) Should Austria put more money into aid for developing countries? Yes

23 ) Are you in favor that members of unions can be a member of parliament for any party in the future ? Yes

24 ) Are you in favor of deportation of criminal people which do not have Austrian Citizenship and regardless of their time of residence in Austria ? Yes

25 ) Should the federal government fund the rail traffic more than the street traffic ? Yes

26 ) Should the independant Austrian Broadcasting Company be controlled more stricly by the parliament ? Not sure, I dont know how controlled it is already

[Tender Branson]

6 ) Are you in favor of the cancellation of the Eurofighter jets ? Don't know what this means

We are buying 18 new Eurofighter Jets for our military for about 2,5 Bio. $ and the opposition mainly SPÖ, Greens says it´s either too expensive, we don´t need them because today you don´t need any fighters because we are surrounded by friendly EU-neighbors and the contract has too many flaws etc. while the Conservative government says we need them to defend our neutrality by law and our constitution says that we also have to provide neccessary air control and we can´t do this with 50 year old Drakens. Btw i voted no, we should buy them. It´s always good to see them at air shows

[minionofmidas]

For States:
FPÖ 85
ÖVP 75
BZÖ 60
SPÖ -65
Grüne -105
KPÖ -185

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

OVP: 91
BZO: 68
FPO: -51
Grune: -65
SPO: -87
KPO: -104

[??????????]

For States:
FPÖ 85
ÖVP 75
BZÖ 60
SPÖ -65
Grüne -105
KPÖ -185

Whats the difference between the FPO and the OVP?

[Tender Branson]

For States:
FPÖ 85
ÖVP 75
BZÖ 60
SPÖ -65
Grüne -105
KPÖ -185

Whats the difference between the FPO and the OVP?

The main difference is that the FPÖ is very nationalist and populist. For example they have agressive anti-immigrant and asylum policies, tough policies on criminals, they are against the EU-membership of Turkey and they are sceptical of Austria being in the EU, while the ÖVP is very much in favor of the European Union. While the FPÖ opposed the EU Constitution, the ÖVP was the main force to ratify the EU constitution. Some of the FPÖ´s founders were former Nazis and with Jörg Haider´s comments about the Nazi-Era strengthened it´s far-right position. Therefore it resulted in the sanctions after the 99 elections, because the ÖVP entered a coalition with them. Then in 2005 the parties comitted political suicide in my opinion by splitting them up. While the FPÖ is popular among blue collar workers and attracting much of the Social Dems votes, the ÖVP attracts mainly business people and farmers.