Austrian History – The Coalitions Since 1983 Part I

After the SPÖ lost its absolute majority in the National Council elections in April 1983, Kreisky resigned as Federal Chancellor; his successor F. Sinowatz (SPÖ) led a coalition of SPÖ and FPÖ (reorganized several times) from 1983-86. The election of K. Waldheim as Federal President in the second ballot (June 8, 1986; in office until 1992) led to fierce controversies: The disputes over his past as an officer in the German Wehrmacht led to Sinowatz’s resignation as Federal Chancellor and to foreign policy burdens. On June 16, 1986, F. Vranitzky took over (SPÖ) the office of Federal Chancellor, who after the break of the SPÖ / FPÖ coalition (September 1986) and the elections of November 23, 1986 (especially strong gains for the FPÖ, entry of the Greens into the federal parliament) in January 1987 with the ÖVP formed a second government of the grand coalition (renewed after the elections of October 7, 1990).

According to recipesinthebox.com, interregional cooperations such as Arge Alp and Arge Alpen-Adria have been expanded. There was violent domestic political turmoil around the FPÖ, in which J. Haider took over the lead in 1986 (until 2000). With its right-wing national and right-wing populist program, the party was able to gain increasing votes in state parliament and national council elections until 1999.

On May 24, 1992 the population elected T. Klestil, the candidate of the ÖVP, as Federal President in the second ballot (in office since July 8, 1992). He was re-elected in 1998, this time as a non-partisan candidate. The tightening of the asylum law initiated by the Vranitzky government sparked a domestic political controversy; the referendum on the “foreigner question” (“Austria first”) initiated by Haider and the FPÖ in January 1993 was unsuccessful.

From 1993 there were letter bomb attacks against public figures. In the elections to the National Council on October 9, 1994, which enormously strengthened the opposition (FPÖ, since January 1995 Die Freiheitlichen; Greens), the very weakened SPÖ nevertheless maintained its leading position and, under Chancellor Vranitzky , again formed a large group together with the ÖVP Coalition that came about again after its break with the ÖVP and early elections on December 17, 1995 (including strengthening the SPÖ). After Vranitzky’s resignation, V. Klima (SPÖ) took over the leadership of this coalition at the end of January 1997.

In the National Council elections on October 3, 1999, the FPÖ became the second strongest party for the first time, after the SPÖ and just ahead of the ÖVP. After failed negotiations between the SPÖ and the ÖVP to continue the grand coalition, a government was only formed under Federal Chancellor W. Schüssel (ÖVP) on February 4, 2000 and after Haider resigned from the chairmanship of the FPÖ (FPÖ-ÖVP coalition). Before that, both parties had committed themselves to a declaration on the “basic values ​​of European democracy” (a prerequisite for Federal President Klestil). At the same time, EU sanctions for the political isolation of Austria came into force automatically, which only came into force on September 13, 2000 after Schüssel had set a deadlinehave been repealed. On October 24th, 2000, the Federal Government of Austria signed an agreement with the USA, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine on the compensation of Nazi forced laborers.

Austria: rulers and heads of state