Alliance for the Future of Austria
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Template:Infobox Austrian Political Party
The Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ) is a right-wing political party in Austria led, until his death on 11 October 2008, by Jörg Haider. It was founded by leading members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on 3 April 2005.
Since the BZÖ has fared very badly in the state elections it participated in, many commentators believed that it would disappear after the 2006 general election. However the party obtained 4.1% of the vote and 7 seats in the National Council. The party was led by Peter Westenthaler from June 2006 until his removal as Leader in August 2008 due to his conviction for perjury. Haider formally re-assumed the party chairmanship from the 30 August 2008 and was the party's candidate for Chancellor of Austria in snap general elections that took place on September 28, 2008.
Foundation
The BZÖ was founded as the result of considerable disagreements within the Freedom Party between Jörg Haider and the circle around Heinz-Christian Strache, Andreas Mölzer and Ewald Stadler. The party's charter was deposited at the Federal Ministry for the Interior on April 3 2005 as is required by Austrian law and the foundation of the party was announced by former leading members of the Freedom Party the following day.
On April 6 2005 the party's charter was published in the official gazette of the Wiener Zeitung, an act which is required upon the foundation of a new party, and the initial conference took place on April 17 in Salzburg where the party's programme was agreed upon.
The BZÖ became the first party of the Second Republic to immediately join a government without taking part in an election. In the coalition with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the BZÖ held the vice-chancellorship and two ministries.
Leadership
Jörg Haider 2005-2006
Peter Westenthaler 2006-2008
Jörg Haider 2008-October 11, 2008
Members
At the initial party conference on April 17 2005, Jörg Haider was elected leader of the Alliance. Hubert Gorbach, the Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Infrastructure is now the parliamentary leader, with Heike Trammer and Karin Gastinger as his deputies. Uwe Scheuch, a member of the National Council and former General Secretary of the Freedom Party, is the Alliance's spokesman. The BZÖ has chosen orange as its party colour.
On September 24 2006 Karin Gastinger left the BZÖ, staying Minister of Justice.
Other prominent members are:
- Social Security Minister and former Freedom Party leader Ursula Haubner (Jörg Haider's sister)
- Thomas Prinzhorn, the Deputy President of the National Council
- Herbert Scheibner, the leader of the Freedom Party group in the National Council
However, of the above-named politicians only Herbert Scheibner has resigned from the Freedom Party. The other intend to belong to both parties, the Freedom Party and the BZÖ. The Freedom Party, however, has announced that it will not accept members who belong to other parties. Following this announcement, on April 7 Hilmar Kabas, the Freedom Party's interim leader, expelled Jörg Haider, who had been the Freedom Party's federal leader and main ideologue for years. Along with Haider, Martin Strutz, the Freedom Party's leader in Carinthia, and the former parliamentary group leader Kurt Scheuch were expelled. Kabas stated that anyone who was a member of another party could no longer be a member of the Freedom Party. Jörg Haider is current leader "Bündnisobmann" of the BZÖ.
Members of Parliament
Policies
The BZÖ describes itself as "ideologiefrei, aber zukunftsorientiert und wertebewusst" (free from ideology, but forward-looking and conscious of traditional values). Some of its policies, however, are quite distinct from those of the Freedom Party. [1] They include:
- An increase in direct democracy
- A Europe of nation states
- The establishment of a "Core Europe" within the EU, including Austria
- Support for the social market economy
- Minimum employment and environmental standards for businesses
- The introduction of the Tobin tax
- Support for small businesses
- Increased government spending on research and development
- A minimum wage
- Enhancing the status of vocational education (including an apprenticeship leading to the Matura)
- The introduction of a flat tax
- Tax breaks for childcare costs
- An EU-wide Green tax shift
- Strict control of immigration
- A "fair and strict" law on asylum
- A referendum on Austrian neutrality
- Comprehensive schooling for children from six to fifteen
- Compulsory pre-schooling
- Compulsory German lessons for the children of immigrants
- Support for organic farming
- The renationalisation of agriculture
- The abolition of inheritance tax
Differences and similarities to other parties
Although the party was often claimed to be far-right like the party of the Freedom Party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria differs.
FPÖ and BZÖ are both EU-sceptic parties and in the 2006 general election, the Freedom Party as well as the Alliance for the Future of Austria both claimed they would decrease immigration and opposed Turkish membership in the European Union.
In the Austrian legislative election 2008 campaign the ÖVP sees the lowering of brokerage commissions and the charges for arrears letters of debt collection agencies and winter fuel payments for lower-income households as appropriate measures against the inflation and the Greens want to facilitate the changeover to renewable energy in order to reduce energy prices.
The SPÖ proposes a stricter controlling of prices in addition to the reduction of brokerage commissions. Both the Alliance for the Future of Austria and the Freedom Party see the main problem in the rising fuel prices; the FPÖ demands a ceiling price for fuel, while the BZÖ in addition wants to reduce taxes on fuels. However the Alliace for the Future of Austria even announced the people's initiative "Preisstop jetzt!" calling for a stop to rising prices to be held; however, due to the necessary timeframe, the period during which people will be able to sign for the initiative will only start after the election, thus limiting its potential impact.
SPÖ, ÖVP and the Greens ratified the Treaty of Lisbon in parliament without a referendum, and only FPÖ and the Alliance for the Future of Austria didn't sign. But afterwards the SPÖ stated that for future treaties of the European Union referendums should be held to let the people decide like in Ireland (where they had a referendum). Due to SPÖ's position change on the EU not only the two opposition parties are using the possibility of EU-referendums before a ratification as subject now. However the SPÖ is seen as untrustworthy and starting a populism campaign like the opposition parties to get more votes than the ÖVP, as SPÖ before had ratified the Treaty of Lisbon in parliament without a referendum before. The ÖVP and the Greens are against any referendums on the Lisbon Treaty, SPÖ claims there should be referendums on future treaties of the European Union, the FPÖ was all the time for a referendum for the Lisbon Treaty, and even want a referendum for EU-Withdrawal. However the BZÖ differs a bit in comparison to the Freedom Party, as they are for a referendum about the Lisbon Treaty but not, for an EU-Withdrawal. [1]
Popular support
The first test for the BZÖ came in a series of Landtag elections in October 2005. In the elections to the Styrian state parliament on October 2, 2005, the BZÖ only obtained a 1.7% share of votes and clearly failed to enter the Landtag, while the FPÖ, with a percentage of 4.6%, failed by a much smaller margin. The BZÖ's leading candidate was Michael Schmid, a former Austrian minister of infrastructure.
The BZÖ did not stand in the elections in Burgenland on October 9. In the October 23 Vienna elections, it was led by former Lower Austrian state government member Hans Jörg Schimanek. However, it captured only 1.2% of votes, while the FPÖ, led by national party chairman Heinz-Christian Strache, surprised pollsters with a share of 14.9%.
As the result of these developments, prominent party members who have not clearly taken sides have called upon leaders to mend the rift. However, since the BZÖ has apparently not gained recognition in the electorate, FPÖ Chairman Heinz-Christian Strache seems to be in the better position to reunite the group under his leadership. It seems unlikely that he would accept any leaders of the BZÖ back into the party.
The BZÖ remains strong in Carinthia (where new elections are not due until 2009) under the leadership of Jörg Haider, and maintains 7 seats in the Austrian parliament, placing 5th in the 2006 Austrian legislative election.
Presence in the federal states
The organizations of the Freedom Party in the individual Bundesländer (states) reacted in very different ways to the creation of the BZÖ at first. The Carinthian branch of the Freedom Party, which enjoys a great deal of autonomy under the party's statutes, is the only state organisation which became a part of the BZÖ en masse and now forms its core.
The Freedom Party in Upper Austria originally planned to decouple itself from the federal party and go its own way without joining the BZÖ for the time being. There were differing legal interpretations of what such a decoupling might entail and what the exact relationship is between the state and federal Freedom Party. Consequently on April 18 2005 the locks on the offices of the Freedom Party in Upper Austria were changed twice in the space of one evening. The first change of locks was on the orders of interim federal leader Hilmar Kabas on the basis that the federal party was listed as owner in the land registry. Günther Steinkellner, the leader of the Freedom Party in Upper Austria (which considers itself independent from the federal party and does not accept Hilmar Kabas' expulsion of Steinkellner from the party) instituted legal action for criminal damage and had the locks changed again. In April 2006 the convention of the Freedom Party of Upper Austria decided to rejoin the federal organisation of the FPÖ. Former party expulsions have been revoked.
The Freedom Party in Vorarlberg also initially announced its intention to go its own way, but then decided a few days later to remain a part of the Freedom Party so as not to lose its official funding.
The state parties split in Vienna, the Tyrol and Styria. The state leaders in these three Bundesländer decided to remain a part of the Freedom Party, although some members of these state groups showed sympathy towards the BZÖ. In Vienna, nine of the twenty-one-strong Freedom Party contingent in the Landtag (state assembly) want to form their own group Bündnis Zukunft Wien (Alliance for the Future of Vienna) with close links to the BZÖ. In the Tyrol, both Freedom Party deputies in the Landtag crossed over to the BZÖ, whilst the state party leader Gerald Hauser continued on course with the Freedom Party and threatened to expel the two deputies from the Freedom Party. In Styria, three of the seven deputies moved to the BZÖ.
These events have brought sharp criticism from Barbara Rosenkranz, leader of the Lower Austrian Freedom Party and a deputy of the National Council. Her state party should remain within the Freedom Party, which is also the case with regard to Salzburg. The state party in Burgenland also unanimously declared they would remain within the Freedom Party.
Finances
The BZÖ's financial situation remains unclear. The group will not take over any of the Freedom Party's debts, but on the other hand, it has no access to the Freedom Party's means of support. The parliamentary group of the Freedom Party, to which the BZÖ nominally still belongs, is entitled to an annual grant of €1,976,000. However, the state party funding still belongs to the Freedom Party as this was the party that fought the last election. The relatively wealthy Freedom Party state organisation in Vienna will not be transferred to the BZÖ. There has been repeated speculation that the Austrian-Canadian industrialist Frank Stronach might support the BZÖ, primarily because he enjoys good relations with Jörg Haider. This has been denied by Andreas Rudas, spokesman for Stronach's Magna International, and Stronach himself has made no comment on the matter. There are no other big contributors in the picture currently and the party will therefore have to support itself exclusively from membership subscriptions.
Controversies
The party's name
The marketing of the party is the responsibility of Haider's ally of many years Gernot Rumpold. According to reports in the media numerous names were considered for the new party before Bündnis Zukunft Österreich was chosen. This name could provoke conflict as there is a party which has been active in Germany since 2001 by the name of Bündnis für die Zukunft (Alliance for the Future) which is on guard against the seizure of its name by a break-away group of the "Haider party". The name Bündnis für die Zukunft has long stood for a party with non-violent, social, ecological, and democratic concerns. [2]. Members of this party are particularly concerned about being confused with the right-wing Austrian party in the event of a European election and do not want to be associated with the policies of a party formed from the break up of the Freedom Party.
See also
Sources
Much of the content of this article is translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of September 11 2005.
External links
Media related to Alliance for the Future of Austria at Wikimedia Commons
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