Tyrolean state election, 2008

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State elections was held in the Austrian state of Tyrol on 8 June 2008,[1] brought forward from the original date of 5 October 2008[2] to "avoid collisions with a possible early parliamentary election". Apart from the Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party of Austria, The Greens – The Green Alternative and the Freedom Party of Austria, the president of the Tyrolean branch of the Austrian Chamber of Labour Fritz Dinkhauser (up to now an ÖVP member) will contest the election with a new party called Bürgerforum Tirol (Citizens' Forum Tyrol), although initially considered likely to be called Für Tirol (For Tyrol), to break the hold of the conservative, farmer-dominated Tyrolean ÖVP on the country (it has had an absolute majority in the Landtag since the Second World War);[3] Fritz Gurgiser of the Transitforum Austria-Tirol will run on Dinkhauser's list.[1] The federal ÖVP has clearly stated its support for the incumbent Landeshauptmann Herwig van Staa. The Alliance for the Future of Austria planned to contest the election in a joint list with another split from the FPÖ (the Free Party for Tyrol, Freie Partei Tirol, FPT) under the name "Alliance of Free Tyroleans" (Bündnis Freier Tiroler).[2] On 24 April 2008, it was reported that this list might fail to gather the necessary signatures to contest the election, as the BZÖ suddenly decided not to run under the list's name.[3] The chairman of the FPT Willi Tilg stated on 2 May 2008 that the party would not contest the election, despite the fact that he claimed they had gathered the necessary signatures; Tilg called on voters to vote for the incumbent governor van Staa instead.[4] Thanks to the unexpected support of the Greens, the Communist Party of Austria will be able to contest the election in all of Tyrol.[5]

In the end, the following seven lists qualified to run in the election:[6]

A poll from 14 September 2007 gave the following results:[4]

  • ÖVP: 44%
  • SPÖ: 26%
  • Greens: 16%
  • Citizens' Forum Tyrol: 7%
  • FPÖ: 6%
  • Others: 1%

This means that both an ÖVP/CFT coalition or an SPÖ/Greens/CFT coalition would be possible.[5]

In a major upset of the Tyrolean political system, Dinkhauser's CFT managed to become the second-largest party. Preliminary results were as follows:[7]

  • ÖVP: 40.4% (–9.5%), 16 seats (–4)
  • CFT: 18.3% (+18.3%), 7 seats (+7)
  • SPÖ: 15.6% (–10.3%), 5 seats (–4)
  • FPÖ: 12.7% (+4.7%), 4 seats (+2)
  • Greens: 10.4% (–5.2%), 4 seats (–1)
  • Christians: 1.4% (+1.4%)
  • KPÖ: 1.2% (+0.5%)

A coalition of ÖVP and CFT or ÖVP and SPÖ was assumed to be the likely result, but most likely not under the incumbent Landeshauptmann Herwig van Staa.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tiroler Landtagswahl: Conny und Fritz – zwei Promis im Wahlkampf « DiePresse.com
  2. ^ derStandard.at
  3. ^ Landtagswahl: Blau-orange Liste in Tirol vor dem Aus « DiePresse.com
  4. ^ Tirol-Wahl: "Freie Tiroler" geben auf « DiePresse.com
  5. ^ derStandard.at
  6. ^ derStandard.at
  7. ^ http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3365433
  8. ^ http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3367072
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