Austria – Local elections

Local elections were held in three Austrian states last Sunday: Niederösterreich (lower Austria), Tirol and Vorarlberg.

In Niederösterreich the ÖVP consolidated its position and the SPÖ confirmed its run of poor results. Even if you do not speak German, the following picture gives you the situation pretty clearly:

According to Die Presse, in Vorarlberg the SPÖ also did badly, though it is not strong in that region. The reported votes are as follows (2005 in brackets):

ÖVP – 44.63 (45.35)
SPÖ – 10.75 (15.61)
FPÖ – 11.33 (11.49)
G – 7.32 (7.02)
Others – 25.97 (20.52)

Party labels:
ÖVP – Österreichische Volkspartei (Austrian People’s Party)
SPÖ – Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (Social Democratic Party)
FPÖ – Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (Austrian Freedom Party)
G – Greens
Sonstige – Others

In Tirol, the SPÖ also lost some ground.

While too much should not be read into the results, it should be noted that the presidential election will be held on 25 April. President Heinz Fischer of the SPÖ is standing for re-election. Neither the ÖVP, nor the right-wing BZÖ, nor the Greens are standing a candidate. Therefore, the main opposition will come from the FPÖ candidate, Barbara Rosenkranz. However, Fischer is expected to be re-elected easily. There is a nice post on the presidential election at the The Monkey Cage.

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