1999 Austrian legislative election

1999 Austrian legislative election

3 October 1999
All 183 seats in the National Council 92 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	4,695,225 (80.42%)
First party Second party   Leader Viktor Klima Jörg Haider Party SPÖ FPÖ Leader since 1997 1986 Leader's seat 3 Lower Austria 2A Klagenfurt Last election 71 seats, 38.06% 41 seats, 21.89% Seats won 65 52 Seat change 6 11 Popular vote 1,532,448 1,244,087 Percentage 33.15% 26.91% Swing 4.91% 5.02%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Wolfgang Schüssel Alexander Van der Bellen Party ÖVP Greens Leader since 1995 1997 Leader's seat 9E Vienna South-West 9F Vienna North-West Last election 52 seats, 28.29% 9 seats, 4.81% Seats won 52 14 Seat change 0 5 Popular vote 1,243,672 342,260 Percentage 26.91% 7.40% Swing 1.38% 2.59%
Chancellor before election Viktor Klima SPÖ Elected Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel ÖVP

Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 3 October 1999.

Although the Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the National Council, a right-wing coalition government was formed by the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) after several months of negotiations. Although the FPÖ had finished a fraction of a point ahead of the ÖVP in the popular vote, ÖVP leader Wolfgang Schüssel became Chancellor rather than controversial FPÖ leader Jörg Haider. Haider, who had also been elected Landeshauptmann of Carinthia, was not appointed to the cabinet and resigned as party leader.

However, foreign governments remained critical of the FPÖ's inclusion in the government and the fourteen other member countries of the European Union imposed sanctions on the country, whilst domestically the government faced protests organised by the SPÖ and Greens. However, this pressure on the government helped stabilise it and when it became clear that the FPÖ was not going to be excluded from government, sanctions were lifted.

Voter turnout was 80.4%.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Social Democratic Party	1,532,448	33.2	65	–6
Freedom Party of Austria	1,244,087	26.9	52	+11
Austrian People's Party	1,243,672	26.9	52	0
Green Alternative	342,260	7.4	14	+5
Liberal Forum	168,612	3.6	0	–10
The Independents	46,943	1.0	0	New
Communist Party of Austria	22,016	0.5	0	0
No - Civic Action Group against the sale of Austria	19,286	0.4	0	0
Christian Electoral Community	3,030	0.1	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	72,871	–	–	–
Total	4,695,225	100	183	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote SPÖ   33.15% FPÖ   26.91% ÖVP   26.91% GRÜNE   7.40% LIF   3.65% DU   1.02% Other   0.96%

Parliamentary seats SPÖ   35.52% FPÖ   28.42% ÖVP   28.42% GRÜNE   7.65%