Extraparliamentary parties involved in the 2008 Austrian legislative election

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.

Parties

Extraparliamentary parties Apart from the five parties represented in parliament with their own parliamentary groups (SPÖ, ÖVP, Greens, FPÖ, BZÖ) and the Communist Party of Austria, which has contested all elections in Austria since 1945, a number of other parties stated they planned to or were considering contesting the election. Parties require either the signatures of 3 MPs or the signatures 2,600 citizens (proportionally divided among the different states: 100 in Burgenland and Vorarlberg, 200 in Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol, 400 in Styria and Upper Austria and 500 in Lower Austria and Vienna) between 29 July 2008 and 22 August 2008 in order to stand. The signatures have to come from citizens who are eligible to vote in the election; one can only support one party per election through one's signature, and the statement of support has to be signed at the town hall in front of an official. In addition, parties have to pay a fee of €435 to cover printing costs in each state, for a total of €3,915 to contest the election in all states.

Liberal Forum The Liberal Forum, represented in parliament from 2006 to 2008 by Alexander Zach as a single MP in the SPÖ's parliamentary group thanks to a pre-election agreement with the SPÖ prior to the 2006 election, announced it would contest the election, though it did not initially state whether Zach, LIF founder Heide Schmidt or well-known manager Hans-Peter Haselsteiner would be leading the electoral list; analysts asserted that either Schmidt or Haselsteiner would have to be the main candidate in order for the LIF to have a chance of gaining the required 4%. Analysts were divided on whether the LIF had a chance of entering parliament. The LIF announced, after preparatory party meetings on 12 July, and 13 July 2008, that it was structurally and financially prepared to contest the election, but that the decision on whether it would actually participate hinged on the location of appropriate candidates; on 15 July 2008, the LIF announced it would stand, and that it would officially announce its main candidate by,28 July 2008. On 23 July 2008 it was announced that the leading candidate had been determined, and that a presentation of the political program and the candidate list would take place on 25 July 2008. On 25 July 2008 it was announced that Schmidt would lead the LIF into the elections, and that Haselsteiner would be the economy spokesman. The election campaign budget was announced to be €1.5 million.

It was announced on 30 July 2008 that Rudi Vouk, lawyer and activist of the Carinthian Slovenes, one of the most outspoken critics of Jörg Haider, would be the leading candidate of the LIF in Carinthia and would be the LIF's constitutional law spokesman. Vouk is also a member of the Enotna lista, which announced its support for the LIF; it had also previously been a partner of the LIF in the 1990s. The BZÖ claimed the candidacy of Vouk amounted to a "declaration of war" against them. Marion Kitzberger, the founder of the Linzer Lernwerkstatt, was announced to be the LIF's leading candidate in Upper Austria and the family and social issues spokeswoman. Zach also stated he would not rule out supporting a minority government after the election. Maria Schaffenrath was announced as the LIF's leading candidate in Tyrol and its women's issues and education spokeswoman, David Loidolt as defence spokesman and leading candidate in Burgenland (he called for the abolition of conscription) and lateral hire Christine Szalay as leading candidate in Vorarlberg. The Viennese list, led by Schmidt and Zach themselves, also featured youth issues spokeswoman Daphne Frankl, justice spokesman Alexander Hofmann, budget and finances spokesman Peter Unger and science and research spokesman Ronald J. Pohoryles. The leading candidate in Lower Austria and spokesman for art, culture, communication and the environment was Rudolf Berger, former director of the Vienna Volksoper, and the leading candidate in Styria was Gabriele Metz. The national list also featured Stefan Gara, an expert in energy and climate protection and the new LIF spokesman for this field.

Besides Schmidt and Haselsteiner, there were unconfirmed rumours that two other people might appear as LIF candidates: former justice minister Karin Gastinger, who left the BZÖ over Westenthaler's comments about deportation about immigrants in the 2006 election campaigning, and Josef Broukal, the former ORF newsanchor who joined the SPÖ, became its university spokesman and left shortly after the early elections were called (because the SPÖ decided not to abolish university tuition fees together with Greens and FPÖ, deciding to adhere to the coalition pact signed with the ÖVP despite the ÖVP's decision to withdraw from the coalition). Former short-time LIF leader Christian Köck had also been mentioned as a possible candidate.

MEP Karin Resetarits, who was elected on Hans-Peter Martin's List in the 2004 European Parliament election, but later fell out with him and joined the LIF, announced on 17 July 2008 she would participate in the campaign, but did not want to go into national Austrian politics as she wanted to serve out her term in the European Parliament until June 2009 (if she were to resign, the mandate would next have to be offered to the next person on the electoral list of Hans-Peter Martin's List in 2004). On 21 August 2008 she was announced as the LIF's leading candidate in Salzburg and as its European Union spokeswoman. It was also announced on that date that former SPÖ member of the students' council Barbara Blaha, who left the SPÖ over its failure to abolish university tuition fees, had been approached by the LIF, but that Blaha had declined to join the LIF.

The LIF announced on 19 August 2008 that it had gathered the necessary signatures to contest the election in all of Austria, becoming the first extraparliamentary party to do so.

The new website of the LIF was presented on 1 September 2008.

In early September 2008, Haselsteiner was criticised (especially by Green MP Pilz) for allegedly having subsidised political parties in Hungary in exchange for public contracts for his company Strabag SE. Haselsteiner denied all accusations and in turn strongly criticised Pilz. In mid-September 2008, Zach was accused of having lobbied for EADS, the company behind the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter airplane, while officially opposing them; Zach initially rejected these accusations, but then conceded that he had worked for EADS. He emphasised that he had strictly separated this lobbying activity from his political career. Nonetheless, the LIF held a meeting late on 22 September 2008 to decide the party's reaction to the allegations. On 23 September 2008, Zach announced his resignation as LIF party leader, as an MP and as its candidate in the elections, while still rejecting all allegations. Schmidt took over as LIF party leader. David Nekula (SPÖ) replaced Zach as an MP in the outgoing parliament, as Zach was elected on the SPÖ's list in 2006. Analysts differed whether the EADS issue would hurt the LIF's chances to enter parliament or not.

Citizens' Forum Austria, Save Austria and the Whites of Austria The Citizens' Forum Austria of Fritz Dinkhauser (the short name is FRITZ), which had just become the second-largest party in Tyrol in the Tyrolean state election on 8 June 2008, announced it would contest the election, although it was not initially decided whether nationally or only in Tyrol. Dinkhauser expected his movement to be joined by unionists, economists, mayors and doctors from across the country. Leading members of the ÖVP demanded that Dinkhauser should leave the ÖVP, of which he still was a member, if he ran against them nationally. Later statements indicated Dinkhauser would not be expelled from the ÖVP to avoid making a martyr of him. However, due to the ÖVP's party statutes, Dinkhauser effectively left the ÖVP of his own will by accepting a political mandate from another party, which he did by becoming a state MP for his Citizens' Forum Tyrol in the Tyrolean Landtag. It was not clear how many Tyrolean ÖVP members joined the FRITZ together with Dinkhauser, but the number was reported to be very high. The name of the list was announced as "Citizens' Forum Austria – Fritz Dinkhauser's List" (Bürgerforum Österreich – Liste Fritz Dinkhauser). Dinkhauser formally decided on 28 July 2008 that he would contest the election, as it was widely assumed that he would, since he had secured the necessary financial backing.

Dinkhauser had secured the cooperation of the Free Citizens' Lists (Freie Bürgerlisten, a group of former FPÖ members) in Burgenland, and had reportedly got strong backing in Styria as well, with rumours of a participation of fellow ÖVP rebel Gerhard Hirschmann (who failed to enter the Landtag in the 2005 election in Styria) in his list. Hirschmann stated he supported Dinkhauser, but would not participate personally. Upper Austrian farmer rebel Leo Steinbichler also supported Dinkhauser. Dinkhauser's main Tyrolean ally Gurgiser stated, however, that he thought the national candidacy was a mistake and that he would certainly stay in Tyrol. At a later date, it was reported that one of Dinkhauser's most important supporters (who declined to be named, but was assumed to be Gurgiser) was strongly against turning the Citizens' Forum Tyrol into a national party, as he saw it as far more important to establish it as the primary opposition to the ÖVP in Tyrol instead. The election campaign budget was announced to be €2.5 million, making it the largest budget of the extraparliamentary parties; at a later date, it was reported to be only €1 million.