Landslide victory for Styrian SPÖ – Conservatives lose governor’s seat and majority in the Bundesrat
Crimson tide washes away ÖVP
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Klasnic (right) stumbled over financial affairs such as the energy company Estag and the zoo at Herberstein leaving her strongest competitor Voves victorious. Photos: ap und apa
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Klasnic (right) stumbled over financial affairs such as the energy company Estag and the zoo at Herberstein leaving her strongest competitor Voves victorious. Photos: ap und apa
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SPÖ overtakes ÖVP in Styria for the first time since 1945.
Kaltenegger makes it to place three.
FPÖ loses all seats in the state assembly.
Graz. It is the second turnover from the ÖVP to the SPÖ in regional elections within a year. In 2004, Gabi Burgstaller (SPÖ) became the first non-ÖVP governor in Salzburg since the end of World War II. Now, the SPÖ took Styria as well. With it, they also gained the majority in the Bundesrat, Upper House of Parliament.
Most of the votes gained by the SPÖ come from ÖVP voters. SPÖ front runner Franz Voves will take over the governor’s seat from Waltraud Klasnic’s. After the defeat, she will lay down her positions in the provincial government but will stay head of the Styrian ÖVP. Voves said he wants to find a consensus with the Conservatives.
The Styrian branch of the Austrian Communists, (KPÖ) led by Ernest Kaltenegger, came out third in the elections and will get four seats in the state assembly. It is the KPÖ’s best result in 51 years. The Greens almost lost their right to have seats in the state assembly.
The most disappointed is the FPÖ which lost its seven seats in the state assembly. Despite achieving almost as many percent as the Greens, they were not strong enough in one region – a prerequisit for getting seats. Both the BZÖ and the independent candidate (former ÖVP-MP) Gerhard Hirschmann did not make the four percent hurdle to get a seat.
On Sunday, elections in the Burgenland, which is governed by the SPÖ since 1964, will take place.
Election results:
SPÖ 41.7 (+ 9.4) 25 seats
ÖVP 38.7 (- 8.6) 24 seats
KPÖ 6.3 (+ 5.3) 4 seats
Grüne 4.7 (- 0.9) 3 seats
FPÖ 4.6 (- 7.8) –
Hirschmann 2.0 (–) –
BZÖ 1.7 (–) –
04.10.2005