The FPÖ in Government

The three branches of government in Austria are the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The executive branch consists of the federal president, the federal government, the provincial governments and the public administration. The task of the executive is to execute the laws. Apart from the municipal level, the FPÖ also assumes – or assumed – such governmental responsibility at the federal and provincial levels.

At present, the FPÖ is not represented in the federal government, which is made up of the federal chancellor, the vice-chancellor and the remaining federal ministers. Viewed historically, however, the FPÖ governed from 1983 to 1987 in a coalition with the SPÖ, in the years 2000 to 2005 in a coalition with the ÖVP, and from 2017 to 2019, again in a coalition with the Austrian People’s Party. In each of these federal governments, the FPÖ held the post of vice-chancellor.

The FPÖ is a member of three provincial governments

The provincial government is the highest organ of provincial administration and is headed by a provincial governor. At present, there are two provincial governments of which the FPÖ is a member and in which it holds ministerial office. In Lower Austria, where the principle of proportional representation of parliamentary parties in the provincial government applies, it has one provincial government minister (Landesrat). In Upper Austria, it is in a government coalition with the ÖVP, holds the office of Deputy Provincial Governor and has two provincial government ministers. Hitherto, the FPÖ has been able only on one occasion to provide a provincial governor, namely, in Carinthia.

In the province of Vienna, a special system applies. Although the provincial government is composed according to the principle of parliamentary parties’ proportional representation in government, the latter includes both "executive" city councillors, as well as government members without their own area of executive responsibility and thus "without portfolio". In Vienna, the FPÖ has one non-executive city councillor.