Socialist Left Party (Austria)
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| Sozialistische LinksPartei | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Sonja Grusch |
| Founded | 2000 (Sozialistische LinksPartei) 2000 (Merged from Sozialistische Offensive Vorwärts) |
| Headquarters | Kaiserstraße 14/11 A-1070 Vienna |
| Political Ideology | Trotskyism |
| International Affiliation | Committee for a Workers' International |
| European Affiliation | none |
| European Parliament Group | none |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | http://www.slp.at |
| See also | Politics of Austria |
The Socialist Left Party (de: Sozialistische LinksPartei, or SLP) is a minor Trotskyist political party in Austria. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International. The party originated in the 1980's, when the forerunner "Sozialistische Offensive Vorwärts" emerged from the far-left wing of the Socialist Youth of Austria. It later transformed itself during the protests against the participation of the FPÖ in the Austrian government in 2000 into the current SLP. In 2002, it ran in federal elections for the Nationalrat; however, it was unable to win a seat.
The SLP has several professed goals as part of their party plan for reform: social justice on a national and global level; a stop to the neo-liberal government's spending cuts and privatisation schemes; gender equality and equality for homosexuals; an end to Nazism, racism, and all forms of xenophobia; protection of the environment; as well as other topics relating to anti-globalisation. The party is also anti-EU.
The SLP has little real importance on the political scene in Austria and until now the party stood in elections in only Vienna and, with 100 voters, won only 0.01% of the vote in communal elections of 2001. However, as the SLP put itself up for votes in only one district (Zentrum), this equates to relatively 0.18% of all votes. The party campaigned also in other districts such as Margareten, where it received 139 votes, which totals to 0.68% of all votes.
In communal elections of 2005, the party campaigned again in the districts of Zentrum and Margareten. It was able to raise its votes to 124 in Zentrum (0.24% or 0.02% for all of Vienna); however, it lost in Margareten (90 votes, 0.47%). Because the SLP ran against the KPÖ in Margareten, their presence could have contributed to the narrow miss for the KPÖ in entering the communal assembly there, with their tally of 2.22%. The SLP also ran in Favoriten (0.19%) and Brigittenau (0.28%); however, neither result was enough to qualify for a single seat.
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| Political parties in Austria | |
|---|---|
| National Council: (2006) |
Social Democratic Party (67)1 • People's Party (66) • Greens (21) • Freedom Party (20) • Alliance for the Future of Austria (7) • Liberal Forum (1)1 • independent (1)2 |
| Federal Council: (indirect election) |
Social Democratic Party (29) • People's Party (26) • Greens (4) • Alliance for the Future of Austria (2) • Freedom Party (1) |
| European Parliament: (2004) |
Social Democratic Party (7) • People's Party (6) • Greens (2) • Hans-Peter Martin's List (1) • Liberal Forum (1)3 • Freedom Party (1) |
| Landtag(e) only: | Communist Party (Styria, 2005) |
| Minor parties: | Socialist Left Party • Social Liberals • Enotna Lista (Unity List) • Christian Electoral Community |
| 1 Alexander Zach, the chairman of the Liberal Forum, was elected on the Social Democratic Party's electoral list and sits in their caucus.
2 On 7 March 2007, Ewald Stadler left the Freedom Party; he continues to sit in their caucus, however. 3 Karin Resetarits was initially elected as an MEP on the List Hans-Peter Martin, but she later broke ties with him, then joined the ALDE group, and finally joined the Liberal Forum. |
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