2008 Tyrolean state election

Last updated
2008 Tyrolean state election
Flag of Tirol (state).svg
  2003 8 June 2008 2013  

All 36 seats in the Landtag of Tyrol
19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout342,713 (65.8%)
Increase2.svg 4.9%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Herwig van Staa 2014 (15265885082).jpg Fritz Dinkhauser Portrait.jpg
SPÖ
Leader Herwig van Staa Fritz Dinkhauser Hannes Gschwentner
Party ÖVP FRITZ SPÖ
Last election20 seats, 49.9%Did not exist9 seats, 25.9%
Seats won1675
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 4Increase2.svg 7Decrease2.svg 4
Popular vote136,40161,79552,066
Percentage40.5%18.4%15.5%
SwingDecrease2.svg 9.4%New partyDecrease2.svg 10.4%

 Fourth partyFifth party
 
Leader Gerald Hauser Georg Willi
Party FPÖ Greens
Last election2 seats, 8.0%5 seats, 15.6%
Seats won44
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 2Decrease2.svg 1
Popular vote41,78836,136
Percentage12.4%10.7%
SwingIncrease2.svg 4.4%Decrease2.svg 4.9%

Landtagswahl in Tirol 2008 Gemeinden.png
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 2008 Tyrolean state election was held on 8 June 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Tyrol.

Contents

The election saw major losses of almost ten percentage points for the governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and 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.

NameIdeologyLeader2003 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 Gschwentner25.9%
9 / 36
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Georg Willi15.6%
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

2008 Tyrolean state election - composition chart.svg
PartyVotes %+/−Seats+/−
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)136,40140.50–9.3916–4
Fritz Dinkhauser List (FRITZ)61,79518.35New7New
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)52,06615.46–10.395–4
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)41,78812.41+4.444+2
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)36,13610.73–4.864–1
The Christians (DC)4,6991.40New0New
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)3,8961.16+0.460±0
Invalid/blank votes5,932
Total342,713100360
Registered voters/turnout520,52765.84+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 OthersTotal
seats
Turnout
 %S %S %S %S %S %
Innsbruck City 28.5120.2114.613.320.412.9358.5
Imst 48.3114.416.410.87.52.7167.7
Innsbruck-Land 36.0321.6115.1112.4112.212.7768.7
Kitzbühel 42.7119.016.412.47.52.1164.8
Kufstein 39.9217.017.315.18.82.0266.8
Landeck 50.9112.718.39.35.92.9168.9
Lienz 48.8113.112.614.48.80.9167.7
Reutte 55.8117.010.07.56.73.0167.6
Schwaz 41.6120.516.411.47.72.3165.4
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.

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References

  1. "State results - 2008 Landtag election". Tyrolean Government.
  2. 1 2 "Tyrol: Governor Van Staa resigns". Die Presse. 23 June 2008.
  3. "Coalition negotiations this week: Tyrolean ÖVP explores with the SPÖ and the Greens". News.at. 16 June 2008.
  4. "ÖVP-Greens possible, ÖVP-SPÖ likely". ORF. 13 June 2008.
  5. "Tyrol: ÖVP and SPÖ start coalition negotiations". Die Presse. 18 June 2008.