A legislative snap election for the National Council in Austria was held on 28 September 2008. The previous election was held on 1 October 2006. The election (the 24th in Austrian history) was caused by the withdrawal of Austrian People's Party leader Wilhelm Molterer from the governing grand coalition (led by the Social Democratic Party of Austria) on 7 July 2008. Due to dissatisfaction with the grand coalition and the two main parties, it was widely expected to be a realigning election, with gains for the opposition and up to seven parties expected to be in the National Council after the election. The losses for the government parties (both the SPÖ and the ÖVP had the worst election result in history) resulted in strong gains for the far right, while neither the Liberal Forum nor the Citizens' Forum Austria (both of which were considered to have chances of gaining seats) gained as much as 2% of the vote, defying earlier expectations. The result of the election was seen as strong for the far-right and in support of Eurosceptics.
Molterer resigned as party chairman as a result of the losses suffered by the ÖVP and was replaced by environment minister Josef Pröll; the Greens' federal spokesman Alexander Van der Bellen (in office since 1997) also resigned and was replaced by his deputy, Eva Glawischnig. Due to the LIF's failure to enter parliament on its own, LIF founder Heide Schmidt and financier Hans-Peter Haselsteiner both declared their complete withdrawal from politics, and the LIF's fate was seen as uncertain. Shortly after the election, BZÖ leader and Carinthian governor Jörg Haider died in a car accident.
Opinion polling AgencyDate SPÖ ÖVP GRÜNE FPÖ BZÖ LIF FRITZ KPÖ RETTÖ DC Others SKÖ MATIN Election 2006 2006-10-01 35.3 34.3 11.5 11.0 4.1 — 1.0 — — 3.1 — — OGM 2008-06-21 33 33 14 16 4 — — — — — — market 2008-07-02 27 33 14 21 3 — — — — — 2 Fessel-GfK 2008-07-08 28 35 14 20 3 — — — — — — market 2008-07-09 26 33 14 22 4 — — — — — 1 Gallup 2008-07-10 27 32 16 19 4 — — — — — 2 Gallup 2008-07-10 21 23 14 18 5 2 7 2 — — 2 Integral 2008-07-12 28 31 14 16 4 — 5 — — — 2 OGM 2008-07-13 30 33 14 18 3 — — — — — 2 Gallup 2008-07-17 24 26 16 19 5 2 6 — — — — Humaninstitut 2008-07-17 25 28 11 19 2 — — — — — 15 IMAS 2008-07-19 24 29 15 20 4 — 5 — — — 3 Gallup 2008-07-25 27 30 16 19 5 — — — — — — Gallup 2008-07-25 25 29 14 15 7 4 6 — — — — OGM 2008-07-29 25 30 13 17 4 4 5 — — — 2 IMAS 2008-07-29 25 29 15 18 6 — — — — — — Gallup 2008-07-31 23 26 15 17 7 5 7 — — — — Fessel-GfK 2008-08-04 25 29 12–13 17–18 2–3 3–4 4–5 — — — — market 2008-08-07 26 29 14 20 3 3 4 — — — — Gallup 2008-08-08 26 26 14 19 6 3 6 — — — — Gallup 2008-08-14 27 28 15 17 5 3 5 — — — — OGM 2008-08-16 26 31 13 17 4 4 4 — — — — market 2008-08-20 26 27 14 20 5 3 4 — — — 1 IMAS 2008-08-20 27–29 27–29 12–14 17–19 6–8 — — — — — 7–9 Gallup 2008-08-24 25 26 15 18 6 4 4 — — — 2 market 2008-08-27 28 26 13 20 4 3 3 — — — 3 Gallup 2008-08-28 27 26 12 19 5 4 4 — — — 3 IFES 2008-08-29 26 26 16 15 5 — 4 — — — 8 IMAS 2008-08-29 26–28 25–27 12–14 17–19 6–8 3–4 3–4 1–2 1–2 0–1 — Fessel-GfK 2008-08-30 28 26 12 17 >4 4 — — — — <9 OGM 2008-08-31 27 28 12 18 6 4 3 — — — 2 market 2008-09-03 28 25 12 20 5 3 3 1 1 — 2 Gallup 2008-09-04 28 27 12 17 6 4 3 — — — 3 Humaninstitut 2008-09-04 32 19 12 19 10 4 4 — — — — OGM 2008-09-06 29 27 12 17 7 4 2 — — — 2 GMK 2008-09-08 30 27 11 18 6 3 4 — — — — market 2008-09-10 29 27 11 18 7 3 2 — — — 3 Fessel-GfK 2008-09-11 25.8 28.5 17 12.7 6.7 2.1 1.2 3.3 — 1.5 1.2 Gallup 2008-09-12 28 27 12 16 6 4 3 — — — 4 IFES 2008-09-12 27 27 13 17 5 4 3 — — — 4 Spectra 2008-09-12 28–31 26–29 11–13 15–17 7–9 2–4 1–3 — — — — OGM 2008-09-13 28 26 12 18 8 4 2 — — — 2 Integral 2008-09-16 28 28 12 18 7 4 2 — — — 2 market 2008-09-16 29 26 11 20 6 3 2 — — — 3 Gallup 2008-09-18 28 26 12 17 8 4 3 — — — 2 OGM 2008-09-20 29 26 11 18 8 4 2 — — — 2 market 2008-09-23 29 27 10 19 8 3 2 — — — 2 IFES 2008-09-26 27 27 12 16 7 5 2 — — — 4 Gallup 2008-09-26 29 27 12 17 8 3 2 — — — 2 Results 2008-09-28 29.3 26.0 10.4 17.5 10.7 2.1 1.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.9
~ Failed to collect the required signatures. # Decided not to contest the election.
Kanzlerfrage (chancellor question)
AgencyDate Faymann(SPÖ) Molterer(ÖVP) Van der Bellen(GRÜNE) Strache(FPÖ) Haider(BZÖ) Schmidt(LIF) Dinkhauser(FRITZ) market 2008-07-09 26 29 — — — — — Gallup 2008-07-10 40 31 — — — — — OGM 2008-07-13 19 18 10 11 3* — — Gallup 2008-07-17 38 31 — — — — — Gallup 2008-07-25 39 30 — — — — — Gallup 2008-07-31 42 23 — — — — — Gallup 2008-08-09 45 26 — — — — — Gallup 2008-08-09 40 27 — — — — — OGM 2008-08-17 22 19 12 8 6 — — Gallup 2008-08-24 42 25 — — — — — market 2008-08-27 35 20 — — — — — Gallup 2008-08-28 46 27 — — — — — OGM 2008-08-31 21 18 12 8 6 2 4 market 2008-09-03 35 21 — — — — — Gallup 2008-09-04 45 28 — — — — — OGM 2008-09-06 24 17 12 8 8 4 3 market 2008-09-10 35 20 — — — — — Gallup 2008-09-12 47 31 — — — — — Spectra 2008-09-12 28 17 11 10 9 4 3 OGM 2008-09-13 22 15 9 11 9 4 3 market 2008-09-16 33 23 — — — — — Gallup 2008-09-18 45 32 — — — — — OGM 2009-09-20 23 16 8 10 9 4 2
* Westenthaler was polled instead of Haider before it was announced that Westenthaler would not be the leading candidate.
Koalitionsfrage (coalition question)
Agency Date SPÖ–ÖVP ÖVP–SPÖ SPÖ–GRÜNE ÖVP–GRÜNE SPÖ–FPÖ(–BZÖ) ÖVP–FPÖ(–BZÖ) OGM 14 July 2008 7 9 9 13 6 9 Gallup 4 August 2008 16° 16° 27 18 7 9 OGM 5 September 2008 10 10 11 9 11 13 Gallup 15 September 2008 18° 18° 20 13 17 5
° The two types of grand coalition were not polled separately.
State polls State Agency Date SPÖ ÖVP GRÜNE FPÖ BZÖ LIF FRITZ Others Salzburg IFG 2008-07-10 23 37 11 17 5 — 4 3 Salzburg IFG 2008-09-11 27 31 11 15 7 3 2 4 Upper Austria Spectra 2008-08-02 28–30 26–28 13–15 16–18 4–6 1–3 — 6–8 Vienna OEKONSULT 2008-08-17 39.20 16.04 17.08 20.18 3.23 — — 4.27
Kanzlerfrage (chancellor question)
State Agency Date Faymann (SPÖ) Molterer (ÖVP) Strache (FPÖ) Van der Bellen (GRÜNE) Haider (BZÖ) Upper Austria Spectra 2008-08-02 44 26 — — —
Koalitionsfrage (coalition question)
State Agency Date SPÖ–ÖVP SPÖ–GRÜNE ÖVP–GRÜNE SPÖ–FPÖ(–BZÖ) ÖVP–FPÖ(–BZÖ) Salzburg IFG 10 July 2008 16 17 22 9 19 Salzburg IFG 11 September 2008 26 11 18 11 10
References
External links
Bundesministerium für Inneres: Information on the 2008 National Council election ORF: Site of the ORF on the 2008 National Council election FM4: Site of FM4 on the 2008 National Council election Neuwal: blog with interviews, polls and commentaries (Neuwal, "early whale", is a pun on Neuwahl, "early election".) NSD: European Election Database – Austria publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991–2010
Political parties
Social Democratic Party of Austria (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs) Werner Faymann's website Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei) Wilhelm Molterer's website The Greens – The Green Alternative (Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative) Alexander Van der Bellen's website Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs) Heinz-Christian Strache's website
Liberal Forum (Liberales Forum) Heide Schmidt's website supported by Unity List (Enotna lista/Einheitsliste) Citizens' Forum Austria (Bürgerforum Österreich) Communist Party of Austria (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs) Save Austria (Rettet Österreich) The Christians (Die Christen)
Left (Linke) Animal Rights Party (Tierrechtspartei) Dipl.-Ing. Karlheinz Klement Pirate Party of Austria (Piratenpartei Österreichs) Humans Austria (Menschen Österreich) WE (WIR) Democratic Diversity of Austria (Demokratische Diversität Österreichs) plattform-direkt.at The Whites of Austria (Die Weißen Österreichs) I DON'T VOTE (ICH WÄHLE NICHT) Certainly – Absolutely – Independent (Sicher – Absolut – Unabhängig) Dr Martin's List (Liste Dr. Martin) Neutral Free Austria (Neutrales Freies Österreich) Party3 (Partei3)