2008 Tyrolean state election

The 2008 Tyrolean state election was held on 8 June 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Tyrol.

2008 Tyrolean state election

8 June 2008

All 36 seats in the Landtag of Tyrol
19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout342,713 (65.8%)
4.9%
  First party Second party Third party
 
SPÖ
Leader Herwig van Staa Fritz Dinkhauser Hannes Gschwentner
Party ÖVP FRITZ SPÖ
Last election 20 seats, 49.9% Did not exist 9 seats, 25.9%
Seats won 16 7 5
Seat change 4 7 4
Popular vote 136,401 61,795 52,066
Percentage 40.5% 18.4% 15.5%
Swing 9.4% New party 10.4%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Gerald Hauser Georg Willi
Party FPÖ Greens
Last election 2 seats, 8.0% 5 seats, 15.6%
Seats won 4 4
Seat change 2 1
Popular vote 41,788 36,136
Percentage 12.4% 10.7%
Swing 4.4% 4.9%

Results by municipality. The lighter shade indicates a plurality; the darker shade indicates a majority.

Governor before election

Herwig van Staa
ÖVP

Elected Governor

Günther Platter
ÖVP

The election saw major losses of almost ten percentage points for both the governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the opposition Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), with each suffering its worst ever result up to this point. The ÖVP lost its absolute majority for only the second time in history, while the SPÖ fell to third place for the first time. The major winner of the election was the Fritz Dinkhauser List, which debuted at a strong 18.4%, immediately becoming the second largest party. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) made gains, while The Greens fell by almost five points compared to their best-ever result from 2003.[1]

Despite its losses, the ÖVP under Governor Herwig van Staa remained by far the largest party. After leading post-election coalition negotiations, in which the ÖVP secured a coalition with the SPÖ, van Staa resigned and was replaced by Günther Platter on 23 June.[2]

Background

In the 2003 election, the ÖVP under new Governor Herwig van Staa regained its absolute majority, which it had lost in 1999. The SPÖ made gains, while the FPÖ lost more than half its voteshare. The Greens were the biggest winner, doubling their result to almost 16% and placing third. Despite its majority, the ÖVP chose to form a coalition with the SPÖ.

In 2008, Fritz Dinkhauser founded his own party in Tyrol, named the Fritz Dinkhauser List. Dinkhauser was chairman of the ÖAAB, the ÖVP-affiliated trade union association, and known for his criticism of his own party, including the ÖVP government of Herwig van Staa. With his new party, he promoted affordable housing, support for families, and improved education.

Electoral system

The 36 seats of the Landtag of Tyrol are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between nine multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the districts of Tyrol. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 5 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name Ideology Leader 2003 result
Votes (%) Seats
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Herwig van Staa 49.9%
20 / 36
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Hannes Gschwentner 25.9%
9 / 36
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Georg Willi 15.6%
5 / 36
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Gerald Hauser 8.0%
2 / 36

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, three parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Results

Party Votes % +/− Seats +/−
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 136,401 40.50 –9.39 16 –4
Fritz Dinkhauser List (FRITZ) 61,795 18.35 New 7 New
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 52,066 15.46 –10.39 5 –4
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 41,788 12.41 +4.44 4 +2
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 36,136 10.73 –4.86 4 –1
The Christians (DC) 4,699 1.40 New 0 New
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 3,896 1.16 +0.46 0 ±0
Invalid/blank votes 5,932
Total 342,713 100 36 0
Registered voters/turnout 520,527 65.84 +4.93
Source: Tyrolean Government
Popular vote
ÖVP
40.50%
FRITZ
18.35%
SPÖ
15.46%
FPÖ
12.41%
GRÜNE
10.73%
Other
2.56%
Landtag seats
ÖVP
44.44%
FRITZ
19.44%
SPÖ
13.89%
FPÖ
11.11%
GRÜNE
11.11%

Results by constituency

Constituency ÖVP FRITZ SPÖ FPÖ Grüne Others Total
seats
Turnout
%S %S %S %S %S %
Innsbruck City28.5120.2114.613.320.412.9358.5
Imst48.3114.416.410.87.52.7167.7
Innsbruck-Land36.0321.6115.1112.4112.212.7768.7
Kitzbühel42.7119.016.412.47.52.1164.8
Kufstein39.9217.017.315.18.82.0266.8
Landeck50.9112.718.39.35.92.9168.9
Lienz48.8113.112.614.48.80.9167.7
Reutte55.8117.010.07.56.73.0167.6
Schwaz41.6120.516.411.47.72.3165.4
Remaining seats4543218
Total40.51618.4715.5512.4410.742.63665.8
Source: Tyrolean Government

Aftermath

During the election campaign, Governor van Staa had stated he would resign if the ÖVP fell below 40% of votes. The party narrowly exceeded this threshold, and van Staa was re-affirmed as ÖVP leader by the party after the election. However, his presence was a stumbling block in coalition negotiations, as both the Fritz list and Greens desired his resignation.[3][4] The ÖVP thus sought to form government with the SPÖ instead;[5] a coalition agreement was finalised on 23 June. However, van Staa announced on the same day that he would indeed resign.[2] His successor was Günther Platter, who became the new Governor.

The SPÖ's disastrous result, following losses in the recent Graz local election, compounded pressure on federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer. He was replaced as federal SPÖ chairman a week after the election, and ultimately resigned as Chancellor in December.

References

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