Austrian People's Party

The Austrian People's Party (German: Österreichische Volkspartei, abbreviated ÖVP) is an Austrian political party with a conservative ideology and Christian Democratic doctrine founded when the constitution of the Federal Republic of Austria was restored at the end of World War II. Although it presents an atypical profile within the European right, being more linked to a conservative Catholic position than to pure liberalism, it occupies a point in the center right of the Austrian political spectrum.

History

Origins

The ÖVP was founded as a continuation of the Christian Social Party (German: Christlichsoziale Partei Österreichs), a conservative movement founded at the end of the 19th century and dissolved during the Anschluss. Since the restoration of the Austrian political system, the ÖVP has continuously been one of the two most voted parties, both in the Federal Assembly and in the districts of Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Lower Austria and Upper Austria, markedly rural and conservative. Burgenland and Carinthia, where the Catholic population is a minority, have traditionally found it more difficult, as has the Social Democratic stronghold of Vienna, its main obstacle to hegemony.

Government with the extreme right

After the 1999 elections, the ÖVP formed a coalition government with the far-right FPÖ, led by Jörg Haider, which had achieved an exceptional result. The alliance earned him diplomatic sanctions from several members of the European Union until the normality of political processes could be established with certainty.

The ÖVP broke away from the FPÖ for the 2002 parliamentary elections. Headed by Wolfgang Schüssel, the party won 42% of the vote.

In 2004, however, it lost the Salzburg district government to the Social Democracy for the first time in its history. In the 2006 parliamentary elections, the Popular Party was defeated with 34% of the vote, and formed a grand coalition with the Social Democrats. ÖVP leader Wilhelm Molterer broke the alliance in 2008, after which he won just 26% of the vote in early elections. Molterer resigned as party leader, being replaced by Josef Pröll, who agreed to a grand coalition with the Social Democrats. In the 2013 elections it obtained 24% of the votes, continuing in a grand coalition.

In the 2017 elections, the ÖVP won 31.5% of the vote, narrowly beating the SPÖ and FPÖ. The Social Democrats rejected the possibility of continuing the coalition with the Popular Party, so the latter agreed to govern jointly with the Freedom Party (FPÖ). However, in May 2019 the leader of the FPÖ and vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache resigned from the government and left the party leadership due to a corruption scandal known as the Ibiza Case. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced his intention to call early elections, and after the en bloc resignation of the FPÖ ministers, he brought in technocrats instead. On May 27, 2019, Kurz was dismissed from his post after a vote of no confidence was passed against him by parliament. In the 2019 early general election, the Kurz-led ÖVP was again victorious with 37.5% of the vote. After forming a government coalition with the Greens, Kurz returned to power on January 7, 2020.

Ideology

The ÖVP's doctrine is Christian Democrat, similar to the German CDU in platform and voter profile; He advocates for the traditional conservative principles of respect for the established social order, and has historically been diametrically opposed to socialist or social democratic programs. One of the pillars of his activity has been the defense of the union between the Church —particularly the Catholic Church— and the State, still partially in force in Austria. With the recent rise of pluralist new left parties, the focus of his criticism has been directed at affirmative action measures for immigrants and other traditionally marginalized groups, such as gays, although he has been relatively committed to the environmental movement.

The economic policy of the ÖVP is generally liberal, defending the reduction of the public sector, the deregulation of the economy, the reduction of social benefits, although the strong adherence to the social doctrine of the Church has led it to defend interventionist policies more frequently than comparable parties in the rest of Europe.

Election results

General Election

Year	Votes	%	Outcome	+/-	Government
1945	1 602 227	49.8	85/165		Coalition with SPÖ and KPÖ
1949	1 846 581	44,0	77/165	8	Coalition with SPÖ
1953	1 781 777	41.3	74/165	3	Coalition with SPÖ
1956	1 999 986	46,0	82/165	8	Coalition with SPÖ
1959	1 928 043	44.2	79/165	3	Coalition with SPÖ
1962	2 024 501	45.4	81/165	2	Coalition with SPÖ
1966	2 191 109	48.3	85/165	4	Most Government
1970	2 051 012	44.7	78/165	7	Opposition
1971	1 964 713	43.1	80/183	2	Opposition
1975	1 981 291	42.9	80/183		Opposition
1979	1 981 739	41.9	77/183	3	Opposition
1983	2 097 808	43.2	81/183	4	Opposition
1986	2 003 663	41.3	77/183	4	Coalition with SPÖ
1990	1 508 600	32.1	60/183	17	Coalition with SPÖ
1994	1 281 846	27.7	52/183	8	Coalition with SPÖ
1995	1 370 510	28.3	52/183		Coalition with SPÖ
1999	1 243 672	26.9	52/183		Coalition with FPÖ
2002	2 076 833	42.3	79/183	27	Coalition with FPÖ
2006	1 616 493	34.3	66/183	13	Coalition with SPÖ
2008	1 269 656	26,0	51/183	15	Coalition with SPÖ
2013	1 125 876	24,0	47/183	4	Coalition with SPÖ
2017	1 341 930	31.5	62/183	15	Coalition with FPÖ
2019	1 789 417	37.5	71/183	9	Coalition with GRÜNE

Austrian state elections