Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | ÖVP |
| Chairperson | Karl Nehammer |
| Secretary General | Christian Stocker |
| Parliamentary leader | August Wöginger |
| Founded | 17 April 1945 |
| Headquarters | Lichtenfelsgasse 7, 1010 First District, Vienna |
| Youth wing | Young People's Party |
| Party academy | ÖVP Political Academy |
| Membership (2017) | c. 600,000[1][needs update] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[2] to right-wing[3] |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
| International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
| Colours | |
| National Council | 51 / 183 |
| Federal Council | 26 / 61 |
| Governorships | 6 / 9 |
| State cabinets | 6 / 9 |
| State diets | 146 / 440 |
| European Parliament | 5 / 19 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| dievolkspartei | |
The Austrian People's Party (German: Österreichische Volkspartei [ˈøːstɐraɪçɪʃɛ ˌfɔlksparˈtaɪ], ÖVP [ˌøːfaʊˈpeː]) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria.
Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currently the largest party in the National Council, with 71 of the 183 seats, and won 37.5% of votes cast in the 2019 legislative election. It holds seats in all nine state legislatures, and is part of government in seven, of which it leads six. The ÖVP is a member of the International Democracy Union and the European People's Party. It sits with the EPP group in the European Parliament; of Austria's 19 MEPs, 5 are members of the ÖVP. It is the second largest party in Europe by membership.
An unofficial successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ÖVP was founded immediately following the re-establishment of the Republic of Austria in 1945. Since then, it has been one of the two traditional major parties in Austria, alongside the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). It was the most popular party until 1970, and has traditionally governed in a grand coalition with the SPÖ. It was the senior partner in grand coalitions from 1945 to 1966 and the junior partner from 1986 to 2000 and 2007–2017. The ÖVP also briefly governed alone from 1966 to 1970. After the 1999 election, the party formed a coalition with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) until 2003, when a coalition with the FPÖ splinter Alliance for the Future of Austria was formed, which lasted until 2007.
The party underwent a change in its image after Sebastian Kurz became chairman, changing its colour from the traditional black to turquoise, and adopting the alternate name The New People's Party (German: Die neue Volkspartei).[4] It became the largest party after the 2017 election, and formed a coalition government with the FPÖ.[5] This collapsed eighteen months later, leading to the 2019 election, after which the ÖVP formed a new coalition with The Greens.[6]
- ^ "Zwischen Nutzen und Idealen". orf.at (in German). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^
- Connolly, Kate; Oltermann, Philip; Henley, Jon (23 May 2016). "Austria elects Green candidate as president in narrow defeat for far right". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- Clarke, Hilary; Halasz, Stephanie; Vonberg, Judith. "Coalition government with far-right party takes power in Austria". CNN. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- "The Latest: Election tally shows Austria turning right". The Washington Times. Associated Press. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- Oliphant, Roland; Csekö, Balazs (5 December 2016). "Austrian far-right defiant as Freedom Party claims 'pole position' for general election: 'Our time comes'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^
- "Austria's new government is a first—a Conservative-Green coalition". The Economist. 7 January 2020.
But on January 7th Mr Kogler, who led the party to a string of electoral successes last year, and three of his comrades were sworn in to government as junior partners to the right-wing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).
- "Who's fired?". Financial Times. 30 September 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
His rightwing Austrian People's Party posted a projected 37 per cent in Sunday's general election, as both the Social Democratic Party and the far-right Freedom Party — Mr Kurz's allies in the government that collapsed in May — fell back.
- "Austrian MPs vote to ban headscarves in primary schools". euronews. 16 May 2019.
The law was tabled by the coalition government, made up of PM Sebastian Kurz' right-wing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).
- "What's at stake in Austria's legislative elections?". TRT World. 24 September 2019.
That crisis—which saw the collapse of the coalition between the rightwing Austrian People's Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO)—stemmed from a controversial incident now known as the "Ibiza scandal".
- "Austria's new government is a first—a Conservative-Green coalition". The Economist. 7 January 2020.
- ^ "Our History". Austrian People's Party. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ "Austria election results: Far-right set to enter government as conservatives top poll". The Independent. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ red, ORF at (1 January 2020). "Neue Regierung: Kurz und Kogler präsentierten Einigung". news.ORF.at (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2020.
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