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- For other uses, see LIF.
The Liberal Forum (de: Liberales Forum, or LiF) is a small liberal party in Austria. It is currently led by Alexander Zach, and is a member of the Liberal International organisation and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.
Founding
It was founded on February 4 1993, when liberals within the FPÖ, including five members of the National Council (Nationalrat, lower house of the parliament), seceded from the party. The five Nationalrat members were Heide Schmidt, Klara Motter, Friedhelm Frischenschlager, Hans Helmut Moser, and Thomas Barmüller. Heide Schmidt (who was 3rd president of the Nationalrat until 1994) became the party's first chairperson.
The reason for the split within the FPÖ was growing disagreements between the liberal wing and the nationalistic camp. Jörg Haider launched a petition-drive against foreign immigrants in Austria (the so-called "Österreich Zuerst Volksbegehren" First Referendum"). This in turn was unacceptable to Heide Schmidt and her followers. The founders of the new party wanted a true, liberal party in the classic sense, which the FPÖ had ceased to be since the resignation of Norbert Steger and the rise of Haider.
The Liberales Forum was the first party in the history of the Second Republic to achieve immediate seats in parliament without prior elections. After some initial confusion, the chairs of the house accepted the new formation as an official party, thereby granting access to public financial means of support. The FPÖ left the Liberal International organisation and the Liberal Forum took over that membership in its place instead. The party managed to gain 11 seats in the 1994 parliamentary elections, and with 5,51% of all votes cast 10 seats in the 1995 elections.
However, following the resignation of Schmidt as chairperson and the elections in 1999, the party's support has plummeted and it failed to gain any seats. In the elections of October 3 1999 the party obtained 3,65% of all votes and therefore failed to overcome the 4% mandatory threshold in order to enter parliament. In the elections of 2002 it obtained 1% of the vote and got no seats. As a consequence it also lost votes in state elections and is only represented on the communal level. In Vienna it lost all seats on the district level in the elections of 2005.
According to its founding charter the Liberal Forum propagates political liberalism and advocates a free market oriented economy. Only if the economy and business fare well, are the foundations for social welfare of the people provided. Furthermore the party wants environmental protection and supports world peace. *
Some viewpoints of the Liberal Forum
- Promotion of privatisation
- Legalization of cannabis
- Equalization of homosexuals
- Liberalisation of shopping hours
- Decrease of the voting age
Chairpersons since 1993
The chart below shows a timeline of the Liberal chairpersons and the Chancellors of Austria. The left bar shows all the chairpersons (Bundessprecher, abbreviated as "CP") of the Liberal party, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Austrian government at that time. The red (SPÖ) and black (ÖVP) colours correspond to which party led the federal government (Bundesregierung, abbreviated as "Govern."). The last names of the respective chancellors are shown, the Roman numeral stands for the cabinets.
"Liberal Forum"