Heide Schmidt

Heide Schmidt, born Kollmann ( born November 27, 1948 in Kempten ( Allgäu) ) is an Austrian politician ( FPÖ initially, from 1993 LIF) and lawyer.

Biography

After her parents' divorce, she moved in 1950 with his mother and sister from Kempten to Vienna. After graduating in 1966, she studied at the University of Vienna Law and received a doctorate in law .. After her divorce Schmidt kept the name of her former husband and worked until 1988 as assistant to the Ombudsman's Office in Vienna. During this time, she worked as part of a consultancy mission for the Austrian television. Around the same time she graduated in economics and social sciences.

Heide Schmidt was a member of the FPÖ since 1973. In 1988, she was Secretary General of the Freedom Party from 1990 to 1993 she was deputy federal party chairman of the Freedom Party ( Jörg Haider ). In 1992 she took up at the instigation of Haider's FPÖ as a candidate in the presidential election. From 1987 to 1990 she was a member of the Federal Council and during the entire period from 1990 to 1999 Member of Parliament (since 1993 for the Liberal Forum ). Between 1990 and 1994 she was also the third President of the National Council.

In 1993 they left together with other liberal-minded party members as Friedhelm Frischenschlager, Klara Motter and Thomas Barmüller the FPÖ. Cause of the breakup was initiated by the FPÖ under Haider referendum Austria first, which was directed against foreigners in general and immigrants in particular. On February 4, 1993, three days after the end of the registration period for the referendum, they announced their withdrawal from the FPÖ and the founding of the new party Liberal Forum (LIF ). For the FPÖ under Haider's leadership, there were fundamental differences of opinion in the EC policy, the protection of minorities, integration of foreigners and the political style.

Schmidt was several years at the top of the LIF, which successfully struck at the first ballot (1994 6% in 1995 to 5.5% in the general election ) and also a place in three land days managed (1996, in Vienna, with 8 % of the votes further in Lower Austria and Styria ). As a representative of the LIF she stepped on to the federal presidential elections of 1998, which, however, Thomas Klestil won in the first round of voting for himself.

In the general election in 1999 the Liberal Forum narrowly failed to clear the four percent threshold, Schmidt resigned after initially from from the politics of the day. She was chairman of the company founded back on their own initiative, the Institute for an open society, a non-partisan private foundation with leaders in business and various areas of public life, which existed until 2009.

From 2000, Schmidt moderated alternately with Dieter Moor ATV discussion Headline Talk.

In July 2008, she returned to the daily politics and stood as the leading candidate for the Liberal Forum in early parliamentary elections of 2008. Due to the resignation as party leader Alexander Zach took over on 23 September 2008 on an interim basis the party leadership. Since the LIF at the national election failed with a result of 2.1 % votes at the four- percent threshold, they declared on 30 September 2008 its final withdrawal from politics.