Austrian Election: Another Snap Poll in Europe Gives the Far-Right a Shot at Power – Newsweek

Austria is set to be the next battleground in the fight between mainstream European politicians and far-right populists.

The countrys governing grand coalition between the center-left Social Democrats and the center-right Peoples Party collapsed on Monday, and Social Democrat Chancellor Christian Kern said he expects an early election in the autumn.

But outside Austria, attention is likely to focus first on the far-right Freedom Party, which joins the two coalition parties in the battle for first to third place in many opinion polls.

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Months of disagreements between the governing parties led to the resignation of Peoples Party leader Reinhold Mitterlehner.

He was succeeded by Sebastian Kurz, the coalitions foreign ministerhe is considered a prodigious talent on the rise at just 30 years of age and the Peoples Party picked him as replacement leader on Sunday. In a meeting with Chancellor Kern on Monday Kurz pushed for a snap poll.

The two parties were supposed to lead the country until September 2018 but the poll now looks likely to happen a year earlier.

In Mondays meeting, the Social Democrats and the Peoples Party agreed to back a parliamentary motion supporting an early poll. The vote is expected to take place on October 8 or 15.

Opinion polls vary quite widely, but most show each of the Social Democrats, Peoples Party and Freedom Party with scores in the mid-20s.

The government is chosen by the Austrian president (currently independent green Alexander Van der Bellen), and is normally made up of the strongest party or parties in parliament, since any chancellor must have parliaments backing.

The Freedom Party is likely to jump at the opportunity for a shot at power. In Decembers presidential election, Europes moderates watched with baited breath as the hard-right populist party almost took the presidencyVan der Bellen edged out far-right Norbert Hofer in a re-run of the April vote.

In the event, Hofer took just under 47 percent of the vote, meaning Van Der Bellen won.

But the big story of that election was the collapse of the old mainstream parties, none of whom passed the contests first round, similar to France's recent presidential election when two independent candidates faced off. The Freedom Party will hope its anti-establishment message can once again sway voters tired of the old political options.

One of Europes more established far-right populist parties, the Freedom Party was founded in 1955, initially drawing support from former National Socialists (Nazis).

Though at times in its history the party has steered closer to the center-right, its current program is hard-right, centring on national identity and opposition to immigration and globalization.

Its program is titled Austria first, and states that Austria is not a country of immigration. The party is particularly opposed to Islam. It believes that cultural Christianity is the basis of all European values. A government pledge in January to ban Islamic face veils was widely seen as a response to the FPOs growing popularity.

The party is Euroskeptic, and sits in the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European parliament alongside Geert Wilderss Dutch Freedom Party and Marine Le Pens National Front. The mainly far-right grouping is committed to the ultimate destruction of the current European Union.

The party has been in coalition before, most recently from 2000-2005, in a move that led to the EU implementing diplomatic sanctions against Austria based on what advisers considered the partys opposition to democratic principles. A governing role for the far-right in todays even more sensitive and divided climate could lead to dramatic fallout.

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Austrian Election: Another Snap Poll in Europe Gives the Far-Right a Shot at Power - Newsweek