Published 30 September 2024 at 06.56
Foreign. According to preliminary results, the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPÖ) looks set to win the parliamentary election in Austria. But it is doubtful whether the party can join a government.
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The FPÖ is estimated to get around 29 percent of the vote, which places them well ahead of the ruling The People's Party (ÖVP), which has to settle for 26 percent. The Social Democrats (SPÖ) are in third place with around 21 percent.
The figures mark a strong recovery for the FPÖ, which increased its support by over ten percentage points compared to the 2019 election, when the party was hit hard by the so-called Ibiza scandal . The successes are partly attributed to the party's resistance to restrictions during the corona pandemic.
Government formation, however, looks like it will be complicated. Several parties, including ÖVP, have expressed an unwillingness to cooperate with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. A possible solution could be a collaboration between the ÖVP and the FPÖ without Kickl, or a more traditional block with the Social Democrats and the liberal party Neos.
— I have never ruled out the FPÖ as a party, but with a conspiracy theorist like Kickl is it is not possible to pursue a sensible and responsible policy, stated Chancellor Nehammer from the ÖVP on Sunday evening.