Summary
Austria’s conservative ÖVP, center-left SPÖ, and liberal Neos have formed a coalition after five months of deadlock, blocking the far-right FPÖ from power despite its election victory.
Christian Stocker (ÖVP) will be chancellor, with Andreas Babler (SPÖ) as vice chancellor. The deal includes a seven-year budget plan, targeted tax relief, and social spending.
Migration policy balances security with integration, abandoning FPÖ’s hard-line stance.
The government reaffirms EU commitments, support for Ukraine, and neutrality on NATO while backing EU enlargement in the Western Balkans.
You win the public vote when you get 51% of all the people who had the right to vote. That includes those who didn’t vote.
If participation is only 50% of the voters, and you get 51% of that participation, you didn’t get 51% of the votes, you got 25.5% of the votes.
And by this, I don’t mean what the current laws consider “winning the public vote” in any particular country. I mean what they need to be for that to be really true.