Austrian legislative election, 1999

Austrian legislative election, 1999

← 1995 3 October 1999 2002 →
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

Viktor Klima
SPÖ

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 members 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 a threat to the country's democracy, sanctions were lifted.

Voter turnout was 80.4%.

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