Parliamentary elections were held in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 on 3 October 1999. Although the Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party of Austria

The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...

 remained the largest party in the National Council

National Council of Austria

The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian parliament. According to the constitution, the National Council and the complementary Federal Council are peers...

, a coalition government was formed by the Freedom Party of Austria

Freedom Party of Austria

The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...

 (FPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party‎ (ÖVP) after several months of negotiations. Although the FPÖ had received the most votes, ÖVP leader Wolfgang Schüssel

Wolfgang Schüssel

Wolfgang Schüssel is an Austrian People's Party politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007...

 became Chancellor

Chancellor of Austria

The Federal Chancellor is the head of government in Austria. Its deputy is the Vice-Chancellor. Before 1918, the equivalent office was the Minister-President of Austria. The Federal Chancellor is considered to be the most powerful political position in Austrian politics.-Appointment:The...

 rather than controversial FPÖ leader Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...

. Haider, who had also been elected Landeshauptmann

Landeshauptmann

Landeshauptmann is a former German gubernatorial title equivalent to that of a governor of a province or a state....

 of Carinthia

Carinthia

Carinthia may refer to:*Carinthia , a state of the Republic of Austria*Slovenian Carinthia, a traditional region of Slovenia*Koroška statistical region, the statistical region of Slovenia*March of Carinthia, in the Holy Roman Empire...

, was not appointed to the cabinet and resigned as party leader. However, foreign governments remained critical of the FPÖ's inclusion in the government and the fourteen other members of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 imposed sanctions on the country, whilst domestically the government faced protests organised by the SPÖ and Greens. However, this pressure on the government helped stablise it and when it became clear that the FPÖ was not a threat to the country's democracy, sanctions were lifted.

Voter turnout was 80.4%.

Results

11

5

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Social Democratic Party Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...	1,532,448	33.2	65	–6
Freedom Party of Austria Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...	1,244,087	26.9	52
Austrian People's Party‎	1,243,672	26.9	52	0
Green Alternative	342,260	7.4	14
Liberal Forum Liberal Forum The Liberal Forum is a small classical liberal party in Austria. The party is currently led by Angelika Mlinar, and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.-Founding:...	168,612	3.6	0	–10
The Independents The Independents (Austria) The Independents – Lugner's List were a minor political party in Austria, founded by businessman Richard Lugner to contest the 1998 presidential election, were he got 9.9% of the vote...	46,943	1.0	0	New
Communist Party of Austria Communist Party of Austria The Communist Party of Austria is a communist party based in Austria. Established in 1918, it was banned between 1933 and 1945 under both the Austrofascist regime, and German control of Austria during World War II...	22,016	0.5	0	0
No - Civic Action Group against the sale of Austria	19,286	0.4	0	0
Christian Electoral Community Christian Electoral Community Christian Electoral Community is a Christian ultra-conservative political grouping in Austria. The CWG was formed on December 8, 1989 in Mariazell, by voters who thought the conservative ÖVP was too leftist...	3,030	0.1	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	72,871	–	–	–
Total	4,695,225	100	183	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver