Election to the National Council in Austria in 1966
The National Council election in Austria in 1966 took place on March 6, 1966 and was the eleventh in the history of the Republic of Austria . The party with the largest number of votes and mandates was the ÖVP under Chancellor Josef Klaus , which was able to win an absolute majority for the first time since 1945 . The second strongest party was the SPÖ under Bruno Pittermann , which lost votes and seats. The FPÖ , which ran as the top candidate with the former SS Obersturmführer Friedrich Peter , also lost votes and seats.
4,886,818 people were eligible to vote. The turnout was 92.74 (1962: 92.73 percent).
background
Due to financial aid from trade union coffers to the FPÖ amounting to one million schillings, the former Interior Minister Franz Olah came under heavy criticism from within the SPÖ in 1964. It is believed that Olah wanted to set the course in the direction of a small coalition between the SPÖ and FPÖ. As a result of his exclusion from the SPÖ, he founded the Democratic Progressive Party (DFP) in 1965. The right-wing populist party won votes primarily at the expense of the SPÖ, but even missed the basic mandate hurdle. Another reason was the appeal of the KPÖ , which only ran for candidates in Vienna North-East and otherwise called for support for the SPÖ. Since the SPÖ did not refuse this support, the ÖVP put up posters with the slogan The red popular front threatens! According to Karl Pisa, the press officer at the time, the little benefit of the few KPÖ votes was far exceeded by the anti-communist election reflex.
In addition, the ÖVP presented itself as a party of professional competence, which with its “Aktion 20” invited leading scientists like Hans Tuppy and Stephan Koren to develop innovative concepts. Associated with this was a change of style in Austrian politics: In contrast to the authoritarian and relaxed politics “by the wine glass”, as represented by Leopold Figl and Julius Raab , Klaus and his team presented themselves as emphatically sober and objective. This was well received by voters, as the political style of the past was strongly associated with corruption and the economy of friends.
As a result, the ÖVP was able to win an absolute majority for the first time since the National Council election in 1945 .
Bottom line
| Candidates | be right | proportion of | Mandates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | ± | 1966 | ± | ||
| Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) | 2.191.109 | 48.35% | + 2.95% | 85 | +4 |
| Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ) | 1,928,985 | 42.56% | −1.44% | 74 | −2 |
| Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) | 242,570 | 5.35% | −1.65% | 6th | −2 |
| Democratic Progressive Party (DFP List Franz Olah ) | 148,528 | 3.28% | nk | 0 | - |
| Communists and Left Socialists (KLS) | 18,636 | 0.41% | −2.59% | 0 | ± 0 |
| Liberal Party of Austria (LPÖ) | 1,571 | 0.04% | nk | 0 | - |
| Marxist-Leninists of Austria (MLÖ) | 486 | 0.01% | nk | 0 | - |
nk = not running
Results in the federal states
The results in the federal states are listed here.
| Political party | B. | K | N | O | S. | St. | T | V | W. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ÖVP | 51.2 | 37.0 | 54.0 | 51.3 | 48.1 | 49.7 | 64.5 | 61.8 | 37.9 |
| SPÖ | 45.4 | 49.6 | 41.4 | 40.3 | 36.1 | 43.8 | 28.2 | 22.1 | 49.4 |
| FPÖ | 2.4 | 11.5 | 2.3 | 6.4 | 12.5 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 12.9 | 4.03 |
| DFP | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 7.0 |
| KPÖ | 1.7 | ||||||||
| LPÖ | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.02 | ||||
| MLÖ | 0.04 |
consequences
After the election, the ÖVP had an absolute majority in seats and was therefore able to govern without a coalition partner. The negotiations for a new grand coalition failed and the SPÖ had to enter the opposition. Josef Klaus remained Federal Chancellor and formed the first ÖVP sole government. The Federal Government Klaus II started its work on April 19, 1966. In 1967 Bruno Pittermann had to give way as SPÖ leader Bruno Kreisky . Only after a few years did Pittermann support this by returning to parliament as club chairman.
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Lendvai : Mein Österreich , page 107 ISBN 978-3-902404-46-6
- ^ Ludwig Reichhold: History of the ÖVP. Verlag Styria, Graz-Vienna-Cologne 1975 ISBN 3-222-10857-9 p. 380f.
- ↑ Results by federal state
