The first national poll in Austria since parliamentary elections nearly four weeks ago is released tonight. Voting intentions have moved little in the Research Affairs survey for Oesterreich, with the exception of the list of Peter Pilz, the former Green politician who won eight seats in Vienna. After Pilz sensationally resigned his seat following sexual harassment allegations, his new party has lost half its support. Some of that has drifted back to the Greens, who ironically now find themselves just on the upper side of the 4 per cent threshold for parliamentary seats. In falling just below it on 15 October, the Greens saw their entire Nationalrat representation wiped out.
Unsurprisingly Austrians are positive towards the prospect of a coalition between the People Party (OVP) and the Freedom Party (FPO), with talks advancing rapidly to a conclusion. 65 per cent feel it is right that this coalition should proceed, while 55 per cent think an OVP-FPO government will be good for the country – figures lying either side of the 57.5 per cent combined score that the two forces achieved at the ballot box.
The negotiations are clearly helping the ratings of FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache, consistently rated the weakest of the big three party leaders. Some 25 per cent now see him as the best Chancellor, up eight points, and only just behind Social Democrat (SPO) opposition leader Christoph Kern (27 per cent, down one). The OVP’s Sebastian Kurz, heading for the premier’s job in reality, stands at 34 per cent, down five points.
In relation to Peter Pilz, a majority feel he is right to resign, but some 60 per cent believe he has been the victim of a politically-motivated campaign. Pilz himself has indicated that he believes this to be the case in respect of some, but not all, of the accusations against him.
RESEARCH AFFAIRS 9 November
Voting intentions, Nationalrat, per cent
(change on 15 October election in brackets):
OVP (People’s Party) 33 (+1.5)
FPO (Freedom Party) 27 (+1.0)
SPO (Social Democrats) 27 (+0.1)
Gruene (Greens) 5 (+1.2)
Neos (New Austria) 4 (-1.3)
‘Liste Pilz’ 2 (-2.4)
Others 2 (-0.1)
Fieldwork: 07.11-09.11.2017. Release date. 09.10.2017. Participants: 600. Methodology: Online poll. Media partner: Oesterreich. More coverage here.