Can we talk about Austria a little?

[Don]

Puggit said:

I believe the right wing candidate has been talking about an Auxit referendum, but I don't know what powers he has.

Not many. But there is a critical one according to the Toryrag: The power to dissolve Parliament. They also say that in the past this has been largely ceremonial. Could be planning on it not being ceremonial anymore. The way it reads he could single-handedly trigger a General Election.

Maybe that's the plan???

[London424]

This democracy thing is getting to be a real pain in the arse isn't it?

[Don]

London424 said:

This democracy thing is getting to be a real pain in the arse isn't it?

Always has been, always will be.

All our lives are immeasurably improved by it. Without it we'd all still be serfs. People should remember this when calling for democracy to be overruled...

[EnglishTony]

Don said:

Not many. But there is a critical one according to the Toryrag: The power to dissolve Parliament. They also say that in the past this has been largely ceremonial. Could be planning on it not being ceremonial anymore. The way it reads he could single-handedly trigger a General Election.

Maybe that's the plan???

He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't expect to win.

Heard that somewhere recently

[Beati Dogu]

Norbert Hofer, the Freedom Party's candidate:



Even the French media are still not making it clear whether the FAR-RIGHT! FAR-RIGHT! Freedom Party are FAR-RIGHT! or not.


http://www.france24.com/en/20160701-austrian-court...

[AJS-]

Sounds like a good chance of Austria leaving the EU as well. Interested to hear from anyone more familiar with the country and its politics?

[EricE]

Purely anecdotal but a number of people I know voted for the FPÖ solely to protest the refugee crisis and were completely shocked when the result was announced because they didn't expect the FPÖ to even have a chance. (sounds familiar? )
I suspect quite a lot of those people will change their mind this time around, particularly in the light of the Brexit which has completely displaced the refugee crisis in the media. Of course they're reporting the Brexit to be a negative development for all parties.
We will find out in October.
There's a real chance that the mood will swing if the refugee crisis flares up again in the weeks just before the revote.

Edited by EricE on Saturday 2nd July 10:49

[Sam All]

EricE said:

Purely anecdotal but a number of people I know voted for the FPÖ solely to protest the refugee crisis and were completely shocked when the result was announced because they didn't expect the FPÖ to even have a chance. (sounds familiar? )
I suspect quite a lot of those people will change their mind this time around, particularly in the light of the Brexit which has completely displaced the refugee crisis in the media. Of course they're reporting the Brexit to be a negative development for all parties.
We will find out in October.
There's a real chance that the mood will swing if the refugee crisis flares up again in the weeks just before the revote.

The trend is important, and causes of it. Being selfless is fine, but you do need to be a bit sensible and look after your own flock 1st.

[Beati Dogu]

Austria will hold a re-run of the presidential election on October 2nd.

http://www.france24.com/en/20160705-austria-hold-n...

[jjlynn27]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36747304

bbc said:

Mr Hofer is aiming to win a rerun of the presidential election on 2 October after his Freedom Party won a court challenge over voting irregularities.
After UK voters backed Brexit, he said Austria might also hold a referendum.
However, he has now made clear he thinks leaving would be a "mistake".
"I'm not in favour of an Austrian exit from the European Union; I've been annoyed for days that people have assumed I am," he told Die Presse newspaper (in German).

.....

The far-right leader had appeared to back a referendum late last month when he said that Austrians should be given a vote "if within the next year the [EU's] course is towards centralisation".
But in his interview for Die Presse, Mr Hofer made clear he thought that leaving the EU would "undoubtedly be damaging" for Austria.

[Axionknight]

Cameron said the same things but it didn't do him any good, did it?

This chap is a bit scary imo, I doubt he will win the re-run election.

[EricE]

I have no doubt in my mind that he would trigger a referendum at his earliest convenience.

All of his current talk is just him reacting to the sudden pro-EU sentiments that first appeared after the Brexit.
He knows he can't win without support from moderate-conservitive voters and this is him fishing for them.

My feeling is that he wouldn't stand a chance at the moment unless the refugee crisis flares up in the months leading up to the vote.

edit: forgot the no!

Edited by EricE on Saturday 9th July 17:51

[jjlynn27]

EricE said:

I have doubt in my mind that he would trigger a referendum at his earliest convenience.

All of his current talk is just him reacting to the sudden pro-EU sentiments that first appeared after the Brexit.
He knows he can't win without support from moderate-conservitive voters and this is him fishing for them.

My feeling is that he wouldn't stand a chance at the moment unless the refugee crisis flares up in the months leading up to the vote.

Edited by EricE on Saturday 9th July 11:40

Good to get insight from someone living there. What's reaction in Austria to Brexit? Both in news and anecdotal? Cheers.

[EricE]

jjlynn27 said:

Good to get insight from someone living there. What's reaction in Austria to Brexit? Both in news and anecdotal? Cheers.

The first universal reaction was shock and disbelief. My impression is that the EU-project received a morale boost when the GBP took a big dive, the parliament started to seemingly self destruct and Britain's future access to the single market was put into question.

Most people that I have discussed this topic with think the outcome is regrettable and hope that Britain is going to remain after all.
Many agree that the EU is flawed and that somebody had to make a statement but a complete Brexit would go too far.

Of course there are also people who envy Britain for the decision and hope for a referendum here. I've never had anyone tell me this to my face but the recent 50:50 vote (in a time when one of the candidates was still openly anti-EU!) suggests that there are plenty of people out there that think this way!
That being said, on either side there appears to be surprisingly little sympathy for a smooth and amicable solution should UK really decide to close the door on the EU.

The media generally reports it as a big loss for both sides but a smaller one for the EU than for the UK.

[EnglishTony]

It is being reported that the Far Right candidate is annoyed that people keep saying he wants to leave the EU. Apparently he wants to stay.

Nothing to do with recent opinion polls in favour of the EU of course.

[anonymous-user]

Maybe he has learnt from the havoc in the UK.
The other wavering nations have the benefit of watching a country self- destruct, so will take a more logical course . Shame we are the Guinea pigs!

I guess we could export Boris/Farage/etc to Austria now that their 'work' is done here.

[FiF]

[BlackLabel]

They are giving their elections another go next month. The initial result was overturned because of postal vote counting anomalies. The re run was meant to be in October but they had a problem with faulty glue on postal vote envelopes lol.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/aust...

[gruffalo]

I look forward to the outcome, it will be interesting to see if a traditionally right of centre country moves to the right and what that would bring regarding an exit of Austria from the EU.

An interesting time in politics.

[BlackLabel]

In May just over 30k votes separated Norbert Hofer of the right wing Freedom party and Alexander Van der Bellen, the candidate backed by the Greens so you would assume it will be neck and neck this time too.