Sebastian Kurz
Global Economic & Market Outlook – Focus Notes (Monday, October 16 2017)
ÖVP wins October 15th Austrian snap election; far-right FPÖ likely to enter government
October 15th Austrian snap election outcome. According to the results available so far, the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) was a clear winner at the October 15th snap general election with 31.4%, increasing its popularity rate by 7.4ppts compared to the last National Council elections in 2013 (Figure 1). In terms of seats, ÖVP secured 61, short of an absolute majority required in the 183-seat parliament. The far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) trailed behind with 27.4%, its highest rate ever suggesting a good chance of entering government for the first time in more than a decade. The centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) which was the largest party in the 2013 elections followed suit with 26.7%, the worst recorded result, purportedly hurt over the last few weeks by charges of dirty campaigning. Out of the three smaller parties, the Greens were the biggest losers negatively affected by the resignation of a couple of key party figures. The party gained 3.3%, well below the 12.4% of the 2013 election and short of the 4% threshold of valid votes needed to make it into parliament. The other two small parties, the liberal NEOS and the newly established Peter Pilz’s List party headed by Peter Pilz, a former parliamentarian from the Green Party, scored 5.0% and 4.1% respectively, enough to ensure parliament entry.
Viewers can log herebelow and read the full report: Global Focus Note_Austrian elections
