With dissatisfaction rife among the population over a considerable decline in the standard of living, among other things, support for the right-wing, anti-globalist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has once again climbed to a new record high, with the latest poll revealing that nearly one in three Austrians would vote for the conservative party if elections were held this weekend.
The opinion survey, published Saturday, September 17th, was carried out by the firm Unique Research for the magazine Profil and indicated the anti-establishment FPÖ would garner 32% of the national vote, far ahead of the liberal-conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the left-liberal Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), which stand at 24% and 21%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Greens have witnessed their support sink to single digits, at just 9%, on par with the relatively new, liberal NEOS party.
The FPÖ’s continued ascent comes as nearly three out of four (72%) Austrians say they are dissatisfied with the current ÖVP-Green coalition. The last time dissatisfaction with a ruling coalition was at this level was in June 2016, following a year that saw some 1.3 million illegal migrants and asylum seekers make their way to Europe.
Now, with FPÖ poised to win next year’s National Council election—and assuming the ÖVP wishes to join a coalition government with the right-conservative party—political insiders are discussing an initiative that seeks to accommodate the potential election victor FPÖ chief Herbert Kickl while bringing the FPÖ into the Chancellor’s office and satisfying the ÖVP’s leadership simultaneously.
In this scenario, if the FPÖ is, in fact, victorious in next year’s elections, FPÖ MP Susanne Fürst, a lawyer in the eastern city of Linz known for her strong political aptitude, could potentially assume current Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s role as a unifying chancellor for the FPÖ, since she’s seen as a moderate within the party. Herbert Kickl would then likely return to his role as the head of the Interior Ministry, where he can affect migration policy directly, while at the same time continuing to shape the party’s direction as the FPÖ’s leader.
As The European Conservative previously reported, Chancellor Nehammer (ÖVP) claimed that an FPÖ-ÖVP coalition at the federal level is off the table so long as Kickl leads the party.
Therefore, Susanne Fürst would serve as a potential consensus candidate for a renewed FPÖ-ÖVP coalition, with her candidacy also presenting Austrian voters the opportunity to elect a female chancellor for the first time, an appealing prospect for broad sectors of society.
Fürst, who has been serving in the National Council since 2017, also serves as the FPÖ justice spokesperson.
