$Unique_ID{COW00237} $Pretitle{376} $Title{Austria Government and Politics} $Subtitle{} $Author{Federal Press Service} $Affiliation{Embassy of Austria, Washington DC} $Subject{government federal austria austrian nationalrat parliament party republic chancellor elected} $Date{1988} $Log{Table 1.*0023701.tab } Country: Austria Book: Austria Facts and Figures Author: Federal Press Service Affiliation: Embassy of Austria, Washington DC Date: 1988 Government and Politics Parliamentary Democracy "Austria is a democratic republic. Legislative power is in the hands of the people." Thus Article I of the Federal Constitution, which together with the State Treaty of Vienna and the Law on Permanent Neutrality forms the constitutional basis of the Second Republic. The system of parliamentary democracy in Austria had been annulled on March 4 1933. From March 13 1938 onwards Austria was occupied by Germany and thus prevented from existing as a sovereign nation. Up to April 1945 it was part of the "Third Reich". In much the same way as had happened with the First Republic, it was the political parties which founded the Second Republic after the liberation of Austria in April 1945. The three anti-fascist parties agreed on the formation of a provisional government headed by Karl Renner which proclaimed Austria's independence. This declaration of independence was issued on April 27 1945 and bears the signatures of Karl Renner and Adolf Scharf for the Social Democrats, Leopold Kunschak for the party executive committee of the Christian Socialists (now known as the Austrian People's Party) and Johann Koplenig for the Communist Party of Austria. The declaration of independence contains the following two clauses: "Article I: The Democratic Republic of Austria is restored and is to be re-established in the spirit of the Constitution of 1920. Article 2: The annexation imposed upon the people of Austria in 1938 is declared null and void.". The federal constitution of 1920 is to a great extent the work of Hans Kelsen, the expert on political and international law who defined democracy as the closest possible approximation to the idea of freedom in the framework of social realities. Austria's constitution is guided by the rule of law and based on the republican, democratic and federal principles as well as on the strict division of legislative and executive powers and of jurisdiction and administration. The constitutional guarantee of basic rights in Austria looks back on a tradition more than a century old, and the constitution is supplemented by the terms of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Federal President The head of the Austrian state is the federal president. On June 8th 1986 former Austrian Foreign Minister and United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim was elected President of Austria. His candidacy had been backed by the Austrian People's Party (OVP). Kurt Waldheim was born in St. Andra-Wordern in Lower Austria on December 21st 1918. Having gained a doctorate of law he entered the Austrian diplomatic corps after the end of the second world war. Between 1968 and 1970 he served on the Cabinet as Foreign Minister. In December 1971 Waldheim was elected Secretary General of the United Nations, and five years later he was unanimously re-elected for a second term of office. The following men have been elected Presidents of the Second Republic: Karl Renner (1945-1950), Theodor Korner (1951-1957), Adolf Scharf (1957-1965), Franz Jonas (1965-1974), Rudolf Kirchschlager (1974-1986). Karl Renner was elected unanimously in 1945 by the two houses of parliament, the Nationalrat and the Bundesrat, but since 1951 the head of state has been elected directly by the people. Voting in the presidential election is compulsory in those provinces which have enacted legislation to this effect. The head of state holds office for six years. Re-election for the term of office immediately following is admissible once only. Candidates for the presidency are in fact nominated by the political parties, but the presidents who have held office during the Second Republic have always taken full account of the nonparty character of their position and sought to act strictly in the interests of the country as a whole. The federal president represents the republic internationally; he convokes and prorogues parliament and, subject to certain conditions, he can dissolve the Nationalrat, although not more than once for the same reason. He appoints the federal chancellor, usually the leader of the strongest party, and, at the latter's suggestion, the members of the government. No one can become a member of the government unless he has the approval of the president. Among the presidential duties are the signing of treaties, the swearing in of provincial governors and the verification of laws passed by parliament. The head of state is also commander-in-chief of the Austrian armed forces. In the event of any violation of the constitution, the president is held legally responsible and he may be deposed by referendum, if parliament so demands, before his term of office expires. Parliament The Nationalrat and the Bundesrat, the two houses of the Austrian parliament, are the country's main legislative bodies and therefore the central element of the government system. The Nationalrat approves federal legislation and also any newly formed government. A vote of no confidence on the part of the Nationalrat can mean the dismissal of the government or of individual members of the cabinet. Along with the nine provinces' individual parliaments and governments, the Bundesrat, in which representation is by province, reflects the federal element of the Austrian system of government. Virtually every draft law approved by the lower house must also be presented to the upper house. The Bundesrat can object to such draft legislation, but if the Nationalrat once again carries its original resolution, this is then authenticated and passed. The Nationalrat is elected for a four year term by proportional representation on a basis of equal, direct, secret and personal suffrage for anyone who is aged nineteen or over on the day of the election. Candidates are eligible for election if they are aged twenty-one or over. The Nationalrat comprises 183 delegates. The delegates of the Bundesrat are sent by the parliaments of the individual provinces. The Bundesrat currently comprises 63 members. The number of delegates sent by each province depends on the relative size of its population. Together, the Nationalrat and the Bundesrat form what is known as the federal assembly and one of their most important tasks is to accept the oath sworn by the president when he assumes office. Any Austrian entitled to vote has the right to institute legislative proceedings by starting a referendum. Any total revision of the constitution must be submitted to a referendum by the entire nation. The Federal Government The federal government is headed by the chancellor, who, along with the vice-chancellor and the cabinet ministers, conducts any government affairs which are not the responsibility of the president. If necessary, ministers may be aided by state secretaries. When the Austrian Republic was re-established in 1945, the provisional government formed by Chancellor Karl Renner was made up of approximately equal numbers of representatives from the Sozialistische Partei Osterreichs (SPO - Social Democrats), the Osterreichische Volkspartei (OVP - Christian Democrats) and the Kommunistische Partei Osterreichs (KPO - Communists). After the first elections to the Nationalrat, in November 1945, in which the communists won only four out of a total of 165 seats, there was, until 1947, one communist minister in addition to the cabinet members representing the two major parties. With the exception of this two-year period, the government until April 1966 was always in the hands of a coalition between the People's Party and the Socialists, with the chancellor coming from the People's Party, which was consistently the stronger. In 1966, the People's Party succeeded in attaining an absolute majority and, until April 1970, there was a one-party government under Chancellor Josef Klaus. In 1970, when the SPO gained a relative majority in the Nationalrat for the first time in the history of the Second Republic, Bruno Kreisky formed a minority government. Between 1971 and 1983 Kreisky and the SPO were returned to power with absolute majorities. In the national election held on April 24th 1983 the SPO lost its absolute majority and subsequently formed a coalition government with the Freiheitliche Partei Osterreichs (FPO - Liberals). This meant that for the first time in its history the FPO participated in the government. The new chancellor was the long-serving Education Minister and Deputy Chancellor Fred Sinowatz, who resigned in 1986. He was succeeded by Franz Vranitzky. When the chairmanship of the FPO changed hands the SPO decided to discontinue the coalition with the FPO. Parliament was dissolved before the end of its legislative term, and a national election was held in December 1986. The Greens gained their first seats in Parliament, giving Austria a fourth parliamentary party for the a fourth parliamentary party for the first time since 1956. In late January 1987, after eight weeks of coalition negotiations, a coalition government consisting of SPO and OVP, with Franz Vranitzky (SPO) as Chancellor and Alois Mock (OVP) as Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister, was sworn in (see Table on page 50). [See Table 1.: Chancellors since 1945] The Federal System The Austrian federal system is rooted dee in the country's history, during which each of the nine federal provinces has acquired its own specific character. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, this individuality lost none of its political significance; each province seeks to maintain its independent character, but strictly within the framework of the Austrian state as a whole. Each province is administered by its own government, headed by a governor elected by the provincial parliament. Delegates to these parliaments are elected according to the same principles as those to the Nationalrat and their numbers are decided in accordance with the population figures for each province. The full significance of the federal system in Austria is reflected in the fact that in the provinces, federal affairs are conducted by the governor, that is to say by a provincial authority. Each province also has the right to protest to the constitutional court if it believes that any federal legislation encroaches on its authority. The individual provinces' responsibility for legislation, on such matters as young people's welfare, nature conservation, building and hunting regulations, is exercised by the provincial parliament. At a lower level of regional administration comes the Bezirk, or district, which is in the charge of a specially appointed government official, and the local community, which has a considerable degree of independence in matters of local importance. Each community has its localcouncil, which is responsible for the election of a mayor.