Liberal Forum
The Liberal Forum (LIF ) was a liberal party in Austria. The LIF was a member of the ALDE and by 2011 the Liberal International.
- 2.1 parliamentary and local council elections 1993-2001 2.1.1 Wiener Wahl 2010
- 2.2.2 2006 election
- 2.2.3 Election 2008
- 2.2.4 Election 2013
History
Foundation
The Liberal Forum on February 4, 1993, when five Member of Parliament ( Heide Schmidt, Klara Motter, Friedhelm Frischenschlager, Hans Helmut Moser, Thomas Barmüller ) was founded seceded from the FPÖ and chaired by Heide Schmidt formed their own faction. Cause of the breakdown and the following party split were disagreements with the then party chairman Jörg Haider and the critics saw as hostile to foreigners " Austria First " petition the FPÖ. The founders of the LIF declared to want to form a classical liberal party again, as they no longer existed in Austria since Haider's rise in the FPÖ.
2006-2009
With the support of the Social Democrats in the form of an electoral alliance in the parliamentary election in 2006, the LIF was represented for the first time since 1999 with a mandate from the National Council. In the Parliamentary elections 2008 the party failed to clear the four percent threshold. In the European elections of 2009, the LIF is involuntary non-runners: The Liberal MEP Karin Resetarits supported instead of the LIF the Young Liberals.
Party reform 2008/ 09
Following the significant defeat in the parliamentary elections of 2008 and the withdrawal of Heide Schmidt decided several party members, a reform program and statutes addressing - the basic program originated in 1993 and was out of date in many respects. For this purpose, a new party leadership was at a party conference on October 25, 2008 and elected a reform team determines party leader was Werner Becher.
Almost eight months later, on June 20, 2009, it was decided the new program at a recent party congress and elected a new turn, this time fixes Party Presidium. Since this date, the lawyer and entrepreneur Angelika Mlinar 's new national spokesperson.
From 2010
After an internal consolidation and the comprehensive reform party, whose main innovation was the introduction of national organizations, the Liberal Forum has set out in the Vienna state assembly and council elections on October 10, 2010. The " old guard " consisting of Heide Schmidt, Volker Kier, Thomas Barmüller and Friedhelm Frischenschlager, were as so-called Strategy Team Vienna LIF advice. See section Wiener Wahl 2010.
After the new Statute of the Liberal Forum also enabled the creation of sub- organizations, it came in 2010 with the Liberal Youth Forum ( LJF ) to build a new youth organization.
Resolution
On 25 January 2014, the LIF merged with the NEOS and broke up in the episode as an independent party. The new party now bears the name Neos - The New Austria and Liberal Forum.
Parliamentary and local council elections 1993-2001
In the Lower Austrian state election in 1993 the LIF was achieved with 5.12% and three deputies of the catchment in the state legislature, but failed the Liberals in one of their strongholds, Vorarlberg, in 1994 only 3.49%. In the same year voted at the Salzburg state election 5.76% the Liberal Forum, but the LIF gained no reason mandate and was therefore not represented in another stronghold.
In the state elections in Styria in 1995, the LIF scored 3.84%, with a basic mandate in Graz were able to collect two MPs in the parliament. In the local elections of 1996 in Vienna, the LIF overtook 7.96 % wafer-thin the Greens, but they asked for the right to vote one seat less than the Greens, namely six.
In 1998, the Liberals once again demonstrated the state elections in Lower Austria and missed with 2.13 % the re-entry into the state parliament, the LIF also failed in 1999 state elections in Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. In Salzburg, the country's electoral law has since been changed, 3.66 % of the votes were only achieved in Vorarlberg 3.36%, in the Tyrol, it was 3.25%. In 2000, the LIF fell 1.11% from the Styrian Landtag.
In Vienna, you still made in 2001 with hopes of leading candidate Alexandra Bolena. Due to the 5 - percent threshold in a score of only 3.43%, however, the Vienna LIF lost his six deputies in the parliament / council. This eliminated the Liberal Forum from the last state parliament, in which it was until then represented, from.
Wiener Wahl 2010
In the State Assembly on May 29, 2010, the Federal spokeswoman Angelika Mlinar was selected as the top candidate for the Vienna City Council and parliament, at the same time district council elections in October 2010. Secondly, the list of candidates followed the Vienna Provincial spokesman Hannes Heissl.
Little enthusiasm, the party leadership was the fact that the split from the LIF Young Liberals ( JuLis ), originally as a student group to student union elections, launched list, announced in May 2010 to try to compete with their own candidacy in the Wiener Wahl 2010.
Since the Liberal Forum had no mandates in the standing for election bodies had to be introduced for the start of the election declarations of support. For local elections the necessary number of signatures 100 persons entitled to vote ever achieved constituency in 15 of the 18 constituencies Vienna. Have not done the constituencies Hietzing, Rudolf -Fuenfhaus and Dobling, 13 were missing declarations of support, although they were signed, but were not filed on time. For all 23 districts each containing 50 signatures have been reached, so that a -shows in all districts was possible to District Council Election. With a voting share of 0.69 % of the collection, however, was clearly missed in the council and in the districts no mandates were achieved.
House of Representatives
In the elections for the Austrian National LIF reached in 1994 and 1995, eleven mandates ten mandates over the years. In the 1999 elections the Liberal Forum failed at the 4 per cent threshold and was not represented since then in the Austrian Parliament.
As of the 2002 election, the party tried it again with the (then) ex- ORF moderator Reinhard Jesionek as the leading candidate and tailored to young target groups campaigning. The experiment under federal spokesman Alexander Zach but failed miserably with an election result by only 0.98 %.
2006 election
In the national elections on October 1, 2006, the LIF is no longer taken up with its own option list. Heide Schmidt announced in an interview with the daily newspaper The Standard that her candidacy foundered on the financial environment.
Early September 2006, a few weeks before the election on October 1, the Liberal Forum was taking a coalition with the SPÖ. LIF national spokesman Alexander Zach received a Fixmandat on the Federal List of Social Democrats, in return, gave prominent liberals like Schmidt, Resetarits and Hans Peter Haselsteiner a recommendation to vote for the SPÖ from.
This unusual form of cooperation in Austria was violently within the LIF and partly also in the SPÖ controversial. Josef Kalina, who was then Director of the Social Democratic Party communications, explained that the electoral alliance - comparable to " The Olive " the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi - was an alliance of convenience.
Organizationally, Zach Alexander was attributed to the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party in the National Council.
Election 2008
After Zach 2010 presented as party chairman in interviews since 2006, beginning with the ( legitimate) national elections for discussion, the Liberal Forum joined by Heide Schmidt as a business speaker and chairman of the support committees in the House of Representatives in 2008 as a top candidate and the contractor Hans Peter Haselsteiner. On August 19, the Liberal Forum announced that the necessary statements of support are available and a nationwide beginning thus nothing stand in your way.
During the campaign, old accusations were repeated Zach had lobbied in advance of the Austrian decision to purchase new fighter aircraft for the Euro Fighter manufacturer EADS. This he denied at first, but later he had to admit, with his former company contact euros to have been working for EADS on behalf of the German agency salaction in Austria yet. Although Zach insisted repeatedly that he would have finished his participation at Euro contact already before joining the National Council, and stressed that he had voted as a delegate, among other things for the establishment of the parliamentary Untersuchungsauss to Euro Fighter Procurement. He supposed to have thus demonstrated its independence test.
Nevertheless, he joined on 23 th September 2008 under the internal party and pressure from the media as the party leader and as a candidate for election and put his seat as Member of Parliament down. The party was chaired by interim Heide Schmidt, his mandate occupied rule compliant after the SPÖ, since Zach yes sat on a "red" MPs in Parliament Square.
During the election campaign the Liberal Forum was in surveys of about four percent, shortly after the announcement of the top candidate Heide Schmidt even at eight to ten percent. These good poll numbers were supported by a large media interest. From Schmidt was repeatedly mentioned as a goal to try to form a coalition government with the SPÖ and the Greens after the election in order to prevent a government participation of the FPÖ and the AAF.
Despite the strong poll numbers, the LIF was ultimately with 2.1 percent share of the vote among the necessary for the collection to the National Council four percent of the vote. Schmidt and hazel Steiner announced in the sequence, to retire from politics.
Election in 2013
Prior to the parliamentary elections of 2013, the party announced to run for election alliance NEOS ( The New Liberal Forum and Austria ). Federal spokeswoman Angelika Mlinar went to # 2 in the Federal Party list of NEOS.
European Parliament
Member of the LIF to the European Parliament ( MEP ) was from 1996 to 1999 Friedhelm Frischenschlager. Karin Resetarits, Member of the European Parliament was for the list Martin, entered on June 7, 2005, the liberal group in the European Parliament when, in the sequence then the LIF. 2012 was also Angelika Werthmann independent member of that group.
National speakers
- Heide Schmidt, 1993-2000
- Christian Köck, 2000
- Friedhelm Frischenschlager, 2000-2001
- Zach Alexander, 2001-2008
- Heide Schmidt, 2008 ( designated )
- Werner Becher, 2008-2009
- Angelika Mlinar, 2009-2014