Tyrolean state election, 2008

State elections was held in the Austrian state of Tyrol on 8 June 2008, ^{[http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/369706/index.do?_vl_backlink=/home/politik/innenpolitik/index.do]} brought forward from the original date of 5 October 2008 ^{[http://sora.at/de/start.asp?b=15]} to "avoid collisions with a possible early parliamentary election". Apart from the Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party of Austria, The Greens – The Green Alternative and the Freedom Party of Austria, the president of the Tyrolean branch of the Austrian Chamber of Labour Fritz Dinkhauser (up to now an ÖVP member) contested the election with a new party called "Bürgerforum Tirol" (Citizens' Forum Tyrol), although initially considered likely to be called "Für Tirol" (For Tyrol), to break the hold of the conservative, farmer-dominated Tyrolean ÖVP on the state (it has had an absolute majority in the "Landtag" since the Second World War); ^{[http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2962248]} Fritz Gurgiser of the "Transitforum Austria-Tirol" will run on Dinkhauser's list. [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/tirolwahl/379730/index.do?_vl_backlink=/home/index.do Tiroler Landtagswahl: Conny und Fritz – zwei Promis im Wahlkampf « DiePresse.com ] ] The federal ÖVP has clearly stated its support for the incumbent "Landeshauptmann" Herwig van Staa. The Alliance for the Future of Austria planned to contest the election in a joint list with another split from the FPÖ (the Free Party for Tyrol, "Freie Partei Tirol", FPT) under the name "Alliance of Free Tyroleans" ("Bündnis Freier Tiroler"). [ [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3253572 derStandard.at ] ] On 24 April 2008, it was reported that this list might fail to gather the necessary signatures to contest the election, as the BZÖ suddenly decided not to run under the list's name. [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/379364/index.do?_vl_backlink=/home/politik/innenpolitik/index.do Landtagswahl: Blau-orange Liste in Tirol vor dem Aus « DiePresse.com ] ] The chairman of the FPT Willi Tilg stated on 2 May 2008 that the party would not contest the election, despite the fact that he claimed they had gathered the necessary signatures; Tilg called on voters to vote for the incumbent governor van Staa instead. [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/tirolwahl/381013/index.do Tirol-Wahl: "Freie Tiroler" geben auf « DiePresse.com ] ] Thanks to the unexpected support of the Greens, the Communist Party of Austria will be able to contest the election in all of Tyrol. [ [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3318265 derStandard.at ] ]

In the end, the following seven lists qualified to run in the election: [ [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3326039 derStandard.at ] ]
* Austrian People's Party
* Social Democratic Party of Austria
* The Greens – The Green Alternative
* Freedom Party of Austria
* Citizens' Forum Tyrol (FRITZ)
* Communist Party of Austria
* The Christians

A poll from 14 September 2007 gave the following results: ^{[http://portal.tirol.com/politik/innsbruck/69012/index.do]}

* ÖVP: 44%
* SPÖ: 26%
* Greens: 16%
* FRITZ: 7%
* FPÖ: 6%
* Others: 1%

This meant that both an ÖVP/FRITZ coalition or an SPÖ/Greens/FRITZ coalition would have been possible. ^{[http://www.tirol.com/politik/innsbruck/65623/index.do]}

In a major upset of the Tyrolean political system, FRITZ managed to become the second-largest party. Preliminary results were as follows: [ [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3365433 derStandard.at ] ]

* ÖVP: 40.4% (–9.5%), 16 seats (–4)
* FRITZ: 18.3% (+18.3%), 7 seats (+7)
* SPÖ: 15.6% (–10.3%), 5 seats (–4)
* FPÖ: 12.7% (+4.7%), 4 seats (+2)
* GRÜNE: 10.4% (–5.2%), 4 seats (–1)
* DC: 1.4% (+1.4%)
* KPÖ: 1.2% (+0.5%)

A coalition of ÖVP and FRITZ or ÖVP and SPÖ was assumed to be the likely result, but most likely not under the incumbent "Landeshauptmann" Herwig van Staa. [ [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3367072 derStandard.at ] ] Interior minister Günther Platter took over, but retained the ÖVP-SPÖ coalition.

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