of the 2002 general election votes
The FPÖ is a junior partner in the coalition government of the Conservative People's Party.
In 2000, the Freedom Party was Europe's most successful extreme-Right party. Having won 27.7 per cent of the vote in the 1999 general election, the FPÖ became a junior partner in the coalition government of the Conservative People's Party (OVP). This government collapsed in 2002 and in the subsequent general election the FPÖ suffered a huge decline in support - representing the biggest collapse of any political party in Austria's post-war history.
However, when a new coalition government was formed in February 2003 it included the FPÖ, despite the fact that the extreme-Right party had sparked the government crisis and forced new elections. As a junior partner in the government,the FPÖ have a number of ministers in the Cabinet.
Herbert Haupt is Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection. Haupt was the Federal Minister for Social Security in the last government, but not vice-chancellor. A FPÖ supporter since his student days, and former executive regional chair of the FPÖ in Carinthia, Haupt was district chair of the Freedom party in Spittal an der Drau from 1978-1999, and a member of the Spittal local council.
Hubert Gorbach is Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology. A former FPÖ member of the regional parliament in Voralbert, Gorbach has been deputy chair of the FPÖ since 2000.
Karl Schweitzer is State Secretary in the Federal Chancellory. General Secretary of the FPÖ since 2001, Schweitzer has been a member of the European parliament, as well as a Member of Parliament.
Ursula Haubner is State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection. The elder sister of Jorg Haider, Haubner's political career had previously been in the Upper Austrian government where she had special responsibility for women, environment and consumers.
The party bases its success on a strong anti-immigrant, anti-refugee message and criticisms of the EU, particularly its plans to enlarge the union to embrace eastern European countries. Calls for an 'Austria First' employment policy have also proved popular, as have plans to introduce a 'children's cheque' whereby Austrian mothers, who stay at home and care for their children, would be rewarded with around 300 schillings a month for each child up to the age of six. Since the FPÖ entered the government, it has stepped up its attacks on 'degenerate art', leading anti-racists to warn of a new era of censorship and cultural suppression.
In provincial elections in March 2004, Jorg Haider, de facto leader of the Freedom Party took almost 44 per cent of the vote in Carinthia. The Social Democratic Party has formed a coalition government with the FOP in that province, with Haider continuing as state prime minister. In Salzburg, the FPO vote went down from 10.9 per cent to 8.7 per cent.
In the June 2004 European parliamentary election the FPO lost four of its five seats.
