Clinging to power through any means necessary seems to be a European socialist/progressive imperative. For all that every last one of them across the breadth of the continent, from France to Germany to Austria, claim the mantle of 'defenders of democracy,' the second actual democracy in the form of being voted out works against them, they're suddenly all about hanging around.
Most of you have read my posts keeping up with Germany as it collapses under the weight of decades of ruling Christian and Social Democratic Unions and allied Green-grifting coalitions. The populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has grown and flourished in the face of unrelenting attacks from the governments, the judiciary and the press, being painted as Nazis, right-wing extremists, racists, bigots, and the always popular 'threat to democracy.'
That story has been mirrored almost exactly in France, where Marine LePen's National Rally (RN) populist movement literally won the first round of the snap elections called by Macron after his party's drubbing in the European Union elections.
But by the time the next round of voting came along, so many deals had been made under the table to cut the RN candidates out of contention in their individual areas - even to the point of Republicans making deals with Communist Party members - that Le Pen wound up vastly short of what she needed to declare a victory and everyone was determined not to play with her, either. So she was effectively locked out, much like AfD had been in the regional elections they had either outright won or come in second. In all the cases, they most assuredly should have had a hand in being on the podium.
They weren't and still aren't.
Even in the United Kingdom, peasants stirred for millions of populist votes that brought them little return...so far. Parliamentary electioneering is not for the faint of heart or those into immediate gratification.
...Labour actually won because voters have come to loathe the Conservative Party so much that they decided either to stay at home (just 59.6% of the electorate voted—the second lowest level since 1885—and in 59 seats, less than half the electorate turned out) or to vote Reform.
Indeed, the millions of votes for Reform across the country might have only secured Nigel Farage’s party four seats (still an impressive number for such a young party under the first-past-the-post electoral system, and one from which it hopes to build upon at the next election), but they stopped the Conservatives from winning dozens and dozens of their own, handing them instead to Labour.
Another outpost of populism that rarely gets airtime is Austria.
No one really paid any attention as larger seismic populist shocks in Germany and France rolled across Europe, but anti-immigration forces in Austria were following suit by winning bigly.
AUSTRIA'S FREEDOM PARTY (FPO) HAVE WON THE GENERAL ELECTION.
— Basil the Great (@Basil_TGMD) September 29, 2024
Another fiercely anti-imm!gration party has won an election in Europe.
Europe for Europeans 👏 pic.twitter.com/cCuSU0qZxD
As with Germany and France, losers big and small immediately decided they wouldn't play with the party that had pulled nearly 30% of the votes cast or let the FPO 'win' at all. They moved to form a coalition to ice the Freedom Party out of government.
Yesterday's election in Austria resulted in the Freedom Party winning a majority of the vote, at 28.8%
— Connor Tomlinson (@Con_Tomlinson) September 30, 2024
It defeated the ruling ÖVP, at 26.3%
Like the National Rally in France, all other ruling parties are uniting to keep the FPÖ out of government
And, like the AfD, FPO are the… pic.twitter.com/Keb0B7tU8o
...Like the National Rally in France, all other ruling parties are uniting to keep the FPÖ out of government
And, like the AfD, FPO are the most popular party among 16 - 34 year-olds; and even among 35 -59 year-olds
This follows demonstrations in Vienna, calling for the "Remigration" of foreign criminals
Only those over 60 voted for the ruling establishment party
This is likely because of what my friend @Raphfel calls the WWHD? Effect: when continental Europeans ask themselves, "What would Hitler do?", and do the opposite -- no matter how sensible the policy
FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl has committed to stop granting asylum to illegal migrants, and build a "fortress Austria" preventing any more from entering
Aspiring insurgent patriotic populist parties in Britain should take note: this is how you can win an outright majority in a first-past-the-post system
SAVING DEMOCRACY FROM ITSELF
They've been working at the process of 'forming a government' in Austria since October. And it all blew apart today.
Talks on forming a new three-party government in Austria collapsed Friday as the smallest of the prospective coalition partners pulled the plug on the negotiations.
The talks had dragged on since Austria’s president tasked conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer in October with putting together a new government. That decision came after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which in September won a national election for the first time.
Nehammer has been trying to assemble a coalition of his Austrian People’s Party with the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos party.
It turns out that the partners in democracy salvation really don't like each other very much as they haven't a thing in common besides not wanting FPO to run the government.
It's like strangers across a breakfast table.
🇦🇹| Austria's anti-far right party (FPO) coalition talks collapse because of deep disagreements between the left and the right.
— Eternal Glory (@EternalGlory0) January 3, 2025
Negotiations have been ongoing since October, there is no possibility of forming a government in Austria either. Same situation as France. pic.twitter.com/7Lz36K526E
The downside for the hastily cobbled-together junta is the fact that the FPO is still very much alive, very vocal, and, worst of all, remembers exactly who did win.
IT WAS US, LOSERS
They are now calling for the embattled chancellor to step down immediately, as he should have done after the election.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has demanded the immediate resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, accusing him of clinging to a chancellorship that the electorate rejected in last September’s federal elections.
Michael Schnedlitz, the party’s General Secretary and a member of the National Council, claimed that Nehammer’s refusal to step aside poses a serious threat to the country’s political stability.
Speaking from Vienna, Schnedlitz decried what he characterized as an ongoing attempt by legacy parties to exclude the FPÖ — despite its first-place finish — from forming the next government.
Tensions reached a breaking point when the liberal NEOS party withdrew from the so-called “loser traffic light coalition” negotiations with Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) on Friday.
FPO's Schnedlitz was lobbing verbal truth grenades with abandon, emphasizing the 'German loser traffic light' jibe. Schnedlitz saved some well-earned vitriol for the Austrian president, too.
...The collapse of these talks leaves Karl Nehammer’s claim to the chancellorship in jeopardy. Schnedlitz slammed Nehammer for, in his words, ignoring the FPÖ’s warnings about constructing a German-style “loser traffic light” government that, from the beginning, was destined to fail. Schnedlitz insisted that every hour Nehammer remains in office generates additional damage, calling upon him to face citizens immediately and to recognize that what truly motivates him is his own political survival.
“Should the Chancellor actor, who is on the ropes, now play even more games to form an unstable loser variant — either a two-way model with the SPÖ or a new loser traffic light with the Greens instead of NEOS — then I would like to make it clear to him: The people are fed up! It’s time for you to resign, Mr. Nehammer!” said Schnedlitz.
..President Alexander Van der Bellen, too, has come under fire from Schnedlitz, who accused him of disregarding the popular vote by granting Nehammer the mandate to form a government. It was the Freedom Party that received the largest share of votes, yet Van der Bellen gave no invitation to FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, claiming it was futile as the other parties had announced they would not entertain the idea of him leading the country.
The Austrian economy is on as shaky a foundation as most of those in Europe (they also had a Green-led government for the past few years), and the prospect of more leaderless gridlock paralyzing decision-making is unpalatable, to say the least - particularly to voters who thought they'd made their wish clear.
...“We live in challenging times”, Meinl-Reisinger said. She referred to the fact that Austria was entering its third year of economic recession with thousands of workers at risk of being laid off.
In addition, she said, the outgoing ÖVP-Greens government had left Austria with a record government deficit.
Neos had wanted to launch bold reforms but ultimately the two bigger potential partners had not been willing to accommodate them.
Should the factions continue to cast about looking for ways to keep FPO from joining, less mind forming a government, well...who knows what could happen?
...Another option could be that ÖVP and SPÖ form a government between themselves, although this would only have a majority of a single seat in parliament.
Lastly, new elections could be held in the coming months. Should that happen, the FPÖ was expected to do better than in September.
Current polls put its share at more than 35 per cent.
The ÖVP’s numbers have collapsed to around 20 per cent as the talks with the Socialists seemed to go against the wishes of the party’s voters.
If democracy has to be saved by new elections yet again because the co-conspirators can't get along, the old guard could well get their clocks cleaned.
