VIENNA, August 3 Nine parties will be included on the ballots across Austria for the vote in the National Council (the lower house of the republic's parliament) — this is the number that managed to collect a sufficient number of signatures by August 2, the Austrian Interior Ministry reported.
The elections to the National Council of Austria will take place on September 29, they will show how seats in the National Council will be distributed in the future, what coalition options will be possible, whether Chancellor Karl Nehammer will remain in his post or whether a new candidate will take his place.
«The last possible date for submitting proposals for elections in individual electoral bodies of the federal states was 2 August 2024, 17:00 (18:00 Moscow time),» the Interior Ministry said in a press release.
As the ministry clarified, citing operational data received from the electoral bodies of the federal states, by the specified date nine parties will participate in the election race throughout Austria, with three more parties only getting on the ballot in individual federal states.
According to the Interior Ministry, the list for the whole country includes the Austrian People's Party (of the current Chancellor Karl Nehammer, ÖVP), the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), NEOS (New Austria and Liberal Forum), the Greens, the Beer Party, None of Them, the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ), and the Madeleine Petrovic List (LMP).
Three more parties were able to collect enough signatures only in individual federal states, the Interior Ministry clarified. This is the MFG (People — Freedom — Fundamental Rights of Austria) — known as a party critical of the coronavirus measures — it was able to secure support in all federal states of Austria except Burgenland and Carinthia. Also in seven of the nine states, the party «Gaza List — Voices against Genocide» will be represented on the lists (in all federal states except Carinthia and Salzburg) and one more party will be represented only in Burgenland — this is the Yellows (Die Gelben) led by Manfred Kölli — a former politician of the Austrian Freedom Party.