AUSTRIA
Parliamentary Chamber: Nationalrat

ELECTIONS HELD IN 1994

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Chamber:
  Nationalrat


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  9 October 1994


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for all the seats in the National Council on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.


Background and outcome of elections:

  The election date was set in mid-July 1994.

As four years earlier, the principal challenger to the two-party ruling “grand coalition” comprising the Socialist Party (SPÖ) and People’s Party (ÖVP), which had made the biggest advance in 1990. During the campaign, Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Jörg Haider took an anti-foreigner stance, blaming immigrants for the country’s crime and unemployment rates. He also alleged corruption in the official ruling circles. Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, at the head of the left-of-centre SPÖ, stressed his personal qualities and extensive experience in this post as well as his Government’s success in the sector of tax reform and its stated commitment to a broad array of other reforms. The conservative ÖVP was headed by Mr. Erhard Busek.

On a polling day marked by a low voter turnout, the governing partners suffered their biggest setback in nearly 50 years while losing their tow-thirds parliamentary majority, these losses being picked up not only by the FPÖ but also by the Greens and especially the newly founded Liberal Forum. Analysts attributed this outcome as much to the electorate’s weariness with years of SPÖ- ÖVP rule as to the increasing popularity of the FPÖ and its straightforward message.

On 14 October, three days after Mr. Vranitzky tendered his Government’s resignation, Federal President Thomas Klestil charged him with forming a new one. Ultimately, on 25 November, agreement was reached on the reformation of the “grand coalition”. Five days later, a largely unchanged Cabinet headed by Mr. Vranitzky was sworn in.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (9 October 1994): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 5,774,000 (approx.)
Voters 4,730,987
Blank or invalid ballot papers 97,873
Valid votes 4,633,144

Round no 1: Distribution of votes  
Political Group Candidates Votes %
Socialist Party (SPÖ) 183 1,617,804 34.92
People’s Party (ÖVP) 183 1,281,846 27.67
Freedom Party (FPÖ) 183 1,042,332 22.50
Greens 183 338,538 7.31
Liberal Forum 183 276,580 5.97

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total Gain/Loss
Socialist Party (SPÖ) 65 -15
People’s Party (ÖVP) 52 -8
Freedom Party (FPÖ) 42 +9
Greens 13 +3
Liberal Forum 11 +11

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 140
Women: 43

Distribution of seats according to age:  
Under 31 years 2
31-40 years 33
41-50 years 66
51-60 years 75
Over 60 years 7


Distribution of seats according to profession:

 
Public service 72
Industry & trade 35
Employees of social security institutions, trade unions, political parties 24
Liberal professions 17
Farming & forestry 17
Commerce & traffic 15
Household 3


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Copyright © 1994 Inter-Parliamentary Union