2009 European Parliament election in Austria

2009 European Parliament election in Austria

← 2004 4 June 2009 2014 →

17 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout45.97% (Increase 3.54 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ernst Strasser Hannes Swoboda Hans-Peter Martin
Party ÖVP SPÖ Hans-Peter Martin's List
Alliance EPP PES
Last election 32.70%, 6 seats 33.33%, 7 seats 13.98%, 2 seats
Seats won 6 4 (5 post-Lisbon) 3
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 3 (Decrease 2) Increase 1
Popular vote 858,921 680,041 506,092
Percentage 29.98% 23.74% 17.67%
Swing Decrease2.72pp Decrease9.59pp Increase3.69pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Andreas Mölzer Ulrike Lunacek Ewald Stadler
Party FPÖ Greens BZÖ
Alliance Green
Last election 6.31%, 1 seat 12.89%, 2 seats
Seats won 2 2 0 (1)
Seat change Increase 1 Steady 0 New
Popular vote 364,207 284,505 131,261
Percentage 12.71% 9.93% 4.58%
Swing Increase6.40pp Decrease2.96pp New

An election was held in 2009 to elect the delegation from Austria to the European Parliament. Austria will have 17 seats in the European Parliament, instead of the 18 that the country had before the re-allocation of seats.

Through the Lisbon Treaty, the number of seats was graded to 19, so the SPÖ and BZÖ parties got additional seats,[1] which are currently Observer MEPs.

Contesting parties

SPÖ

The SPÖ announced that their frontrunner will be current MEP Hannes Swoboda.

ÖVP

The ÖVP surprisingly selected former Interior Minister Ernst Strasser to lead their party. 2004 frontrunner and MEP Othmar Karas, initially the favourite for the first place on the ÖVP party list, was listed in second place. Nonetheless, a large number of famous ÖVP members, including all living former ÖVP chairmen, launched a supporting committee for Karas.[2]

FPÖ

Andreas Mölzer was selected to lead the FPÖ's lists again, and Heinz-Christian Strache claimed that up to 30% were possible; Mölzer stated that he wanted to reach 17.5% again, as in the 2008 elections.[3]

Die Grünen

At the Greens' party congress on 17–18 January 2009, long-time MEP Johannes Voggenhuber was not selected for the first place on the party list, with Ulrike Lunacek being elected instead; Voggenhuber had announced he would not stand in any other place on the list and thus will withdraw from politics after the election.[4] However, in the days after the decision, it was not ruled out that Voggenhuber might run on his own;[5] he later emphatically stated he would not do that.[6] It was announced in late January that he might stand in the 16th place on the list, making it possible for him to be ranked first in preferences with more than 7% of the Greens' votes in the election. The party leadership rejected this possibility in a meeting on 30 January 2009, angering many of the Greens' supporters.[7] Cyriak Schwaighofer, the Greens' leader in Salzburg, then stated he would do what he could to get Voggenhuber on the list as a regional MEP candidate for Salzburg, but the Greens' leadership again rejected this idea.[8]

BZÖ

The BZÖ picked Ewald Stadler to head their list;[9] they did not want to run together with the Libertas Party, but stated that they were interested in cooperation after the election.[10]

Hans-Peter Martin

MEP Hans-Peter Martin, who got 14% of the vote in the 2004 elections as an Independent, announced on 27 April that he would run again, stating he was sure he would defend his strong third-place showing in the 2004 elections.[11][12]

Young Liberals

Liberal Forum MEP Karin Resetarits gave the Young Liberals (a sub-organisation of the LIF, both its youth party and its student organisation[13]) the possibility to contest the election.[14] It later emerged that the LIF would in fact have liked to contest the election, but that it had counted on Resetarits' signature in order to contest the election; as she had given it to the Young Liberals, they could stand in the election while the LIF could not.[15]

KPÖ

The Communist Party of Austria announced on 7 March that it will participate in the elections under the list name "Communist Party of Austria – European Left".[16]

Opinion polls

Source Date SPÖ ÖVP MARTIN GRÜNE FPÖ BZÖ Others Undecided
Gallup/Österreich 2009-06-02 27–29% 27–29% 12–14% 8–10% 14–16% 4–6%
Market/Standard 2009-06-01 28% 27% 15% 8% 17% 4% 1%
Karmasin/Profil 2009-05-28 27% 28% 13% 10% 15% 5% 2%
OGM/News 2009-05-27 26% 30% 14% 8% 16% 5% 1%
IFES/Heute 2009-05-25 27% 29% 10% 11% 16% 5% 2%
OGM/ORF 2009-05-24 29% 30% 11% 9% 14% 5% 2%
Market/Standard 2009-05-22 25% 27% 17% 10% 14% 3% 4%
Market/ORF-Eco Archived 23 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine 2009-05-08 29% 27% 13% 8% 16% 5% 2%
Gallup/Österreich 2009-05-08 31% 30% 8% 9% 17% 5%
OGM/News 2009-05-06 32% 29% 9% 10% 15% 5%
Karmasin/Profil 2009-05-02 30% 30% 9% 9% 17% 5%
OGM/News 2009-04-15 30% 32% 6% 9% 17% 5% 1%
Gallup/Österreich 2009-04-04 31–33% 30–32% 6–8% 8–10% 15–17% 3–5%
Peter Hayek/ATV Archived 30 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine 2009-04-01 31% 33% 10% 9% 10% 4% 3%
Manova/Presse 2009-04-01 33% 30% 3% 13% 13% 6% 2%
Gallup/Österreich 2009-03-27 30–32% 29–31% 7–9% 9-11% 15–17% 4–6%
Market/Standard 2009-03-25 30% 29% 8% 9% 15% 6% 3%
Gallup/Österreich 2009-03-13 30–32% 29–31% 7–9% 9-11% 15–17% 4–6%
Fessel-Gfk/Presse 2009-03-05 28% 25% 4% 8% 9% 26%

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
Elected+/–Post-Lisbon+/–
Austrian People's Party858,92129.986060
Social Democratic Party of Austria680,04123.744–35+1
Hans-Peter Martin's List506,09217.673+130
Freedom Party of Austria364,20712.712+120
The Greens – The Green Alternative284,5059.932020
Alliance for the Future of Austria131,2614.580New1+1
Young Liberals20,6680.720New00
Communist Party of Austria18,9260.660000
Total2,864,621100.0017–119+2
Valid votes2,864,62197.93
Invalid/blank votes60,5112.07
Total votes2,925,132100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,362,76145.97
Source: Ministry of Interior

References

  1. ^ http://www.wienerzeitung.at/default.aspx?tabID=3861&alias=wzo&cob=529886[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Oe1.ORF.at / ÖVP-Irritationen: Promis für Karas statt Strasser". Archived from the original on 26 May 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  3. ^ "Oe1.ORF.at / Mölzer Spitzenkandidat der FPÖ". Archived from the original on 26 May 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
  4. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  5. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  6. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  7. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  8. ^ "Wien erteilt Schwaighofer Abfuhr - oesterreich.ORF.at". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  9. ^ "Oe1.ORF.at / BZÖ: Stadler wird EU-Spitzenkandidat". Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  10. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  11. ^ "oe1.ORF.at Libero". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  12. ^ "www.wienweb.at". Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  13. ^ "LSF Liberales Studentinnen und Studenten Forum - Home". Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  14. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  15. ^ "DerStandard.at".
  16. ^ "KPÖ: KPÖ wird als linke Alternative bei der EU-Wahl antreten". Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
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