Despite slight losses, the SPÖ retains two of the three Burgenland members of the Federal Council, the parliamentary correspondence announced on Monday.

FPÖ Ahead of ÖVP in Burgenland Election

According to the seat distribution in the state parliament, the runner-up in the election receives a seat in the Federal Council, explained Werner Zögernitz, President of the Institute for Parliamentarism and Democracy Issues and former director of the ÖVP parliamentary group, to the APA. In the election on Sunday, the FPÖ ousted the ÖVP (21.97 percent) from second place with 23.09 percent.

With 23 members in the future (previously 24), the ÖVP retains its relative majority in the 60-seat Federal Council. The SPÖ remains at 18, the FPÖ now at 14 (previously 13). The Greens continue to hold four seats, the NEOS one. If a blue-black coalition were to occur at the federal level, it would also have a simple majority of 38 mandates in the Federal Council.

Burgenland with Three Seats in the Federal Council

The federal state with the most Austrian citizens - currently Lower Austria - has twelve seats, Vienna and Upper Austria each have ten, Styria has nine, Tyrol has five, Carinthia and Salzburg each have four, and Burgenland and Vorarlberg each have three seats.

As soon as the constituent meeting of the state parliament has taken place, according to parliamentary correspondence, the new Federal Council members can be sworn in in the Chamber of States. The next Federal Council meetings are planned for January 30, March 13, and April 10, 2025.

The members of the Chamber of States are not directly elected, but are sent by the state parliaments. They exercise their function for the duration of the legislative periods of the respective state parliament.

(APA/Red)

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