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Photo: Elmar Gubisch / IMAGO
Lower Austria is the largest province in Austria in terms of area.
The state election is considered a mood test for the entire country.
And actually three things can be said:
The ÖVP has never done so badly.
The result of the SPÖ was never so bad.
The right-wing FPÖ has never been so strong.
At the moment only 48 percent of the votes have been counted, urban spaces are still missing.
But one thing is already certain: the crash of the ÖVP in Lower Austria is historic.
The absolute majority in the state parliament is gone, as is the majority in the proportional state government.
There may soon be a personnel debate about party leader and Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
In the maltreated SPÖ, a personnel debate about the party leader would also be possible.
In its election campaign, the FPÖ had criticized the federal government because of the increased number of asylum seekers and because of the sanctions against Russia, which the FPÖ believes have triggered inflation.
In nationwide polls, the FPÖ has been in first place for weeks, followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ).
The conservative chancellor party ÖVP had recently gotten on the defensive at state and federal level due to corruption investigations and the wave of inflation.
More soon at SPIEGEL.de
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