Far-right gains in Austria vote

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Austria's Social Democrats won the most votes in the country's early election but far-right parties made significant gains, the interior ministry has said.

Preliminary official results from Sunday's poll show Social Democrats with 29.7% of the vote.

But the country's two far-right parties made large gains, winning a total vote share of 29% between them.
...
The conservative People's Party, which had been in a faltering coalition with the Social Democrats that collapsed after 18 months, won 25.6%.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7639805.stm

---

Not good. Postal ballots (about 10% of them) still to be counted, but the percentages can't change that much. Austria still has a persistent far right problem.

[StopTheNeoCons]

1. FREEPERS NEED TO MOVE TO AUSTRIA

[Hardrada]

2. Or a persistent socialist problem!

[LeftishBrit]

4. Except that the socialists aren't a problem!

[Hardrada]

8. In that you don't have any real ones left?

[LeftishBrit]

10. Who is 'you' here - the UK or Austria?

[Hardrada]

12. UK. I don't think Labour = socialism. But I am not sure I am

getting the real UK picture from the Guardian or the BBC. Do you have a better source we could link to?

[LeftishBrit]

14. BBC is probably good as any

If you can get the World Service, do.

You are right that Labour esp. nowadays doesn't equal socialism. We still have some genuine socialists in the Labour Party, but they're not at the top. New Labour is basically a milder version of Thatcherism: more socially liberal, and doesn't promote unemployment as a positively good thing for the moral fabric of society, but still in most ways to the right of moderate pre-Thatcher Tories.

Many Liberal Democrats are to the left of New Labour; though unfortunately the current leader isn't.

But anything, even the Tories, is better than the hard-right. Our far-right party, the BNP (British National Party or more accurately Bloody Nasty People), has no representation in Parliament and fortunately isn't likely to; but they have elected local councillors.

[Redwraithvienna]

6. Socialist Problem ?

Well in which way ?

That the social democrats are an incompetent bunch who couldnt get their asses up for the last 2 years and do something meaningfull ? Yes then you are right. That is a problem.

But genereally speaking ?

[Hardrada]

7. The problem is one of matching their record to their rhetoric.

Labour parties often have this difficulty but it is something a closer contact with their constituencies could alleviate.

[Redwraithvienna]

9. IMHO Opinion that is not the problem.

Austria is a workers paradise. I mean 5 Weeks (25 days) paid holidays. Complete Health Care financed by taxes (the more you earn the more you pay) and so on. Its not that the people want more (at least not in terms of money ... well ok everybody wants more but that is not why people vote for the far right)

The problem is that since the communist block failed all the major parties became more and more xenophobic (which doesnt fit the social democrats all that well). The "forgeiners" were guilty for everything. Higher crime rates (partly true but not anymore), higher unemployment (completly BS) and so on.

And now come the far right parties with the easy solution that once everybody is gone except the "real austrians (read real german austrians or well at least those who live here longer then 60 years) everything will be fine....

Combine that with the neo nazis who still lurk in those parties you get a really awefull mixture of neo naziism, xenophobia, and nationalism.

The socialists problem is not that they dont have the answers. The problem is that they tried to be like the far right parties but not really like them. And well in german there is a saying : You dont go to the apprentice you go to the master. and that is what has happend.

and i really hope that it will change back again, and that MAYBE the socialists (and the conservatibe party which had the worst result in their history) start anew without an immitation of the far right but by selling their own programms .

[Hardrada]

13. It is very difficult for a party based upon logic and reason to

prevail against a party which organizes around irrationality and hatred. We have had that problem in the U.S. especially since we lack a Left entirely and the liberals are innately unable to become any kind of Sturmtruppen!

[LeftishBrit]

3. Uggghhhh. I hope the Social Democrats can form a government that totally marginalizes them.

[Redwraithvienna]

5. Well they can ...

but that is what made the Far right stronger and stronger.

The problem is (and i am an austrian so i do have some insight in how we work) that the "protest voters" -> people who just dont like the established not far right parties anymore, vote for those parties and not for the liberal party of the green party.

They dont necesairily share the same ideals, or even think who they vote for. And that is the problem. They just vote for the FPÖ/BZÖ cause "we want to show them up there who is the boss"

Thats cause the far right party has the easy solutions: Throw out the Forgeiners, get out of the EU, and so on.

[New Dawn]

11. Well, Austria was Hitler's homeland...

[thenam]

15. Well, the US was McVeigh and Rudolph's homeland...

...therefore all Americans are domestic terrorists. See what a I did there?

[happyslug]

16. And he left it to fight for Germany during WWI

n/t