Anti-vax political party wins seat in Austrian parliament

An Austrian political party founded just months ago to oppose Covid-19 restrictions has unexpectedly won a seat in the nation’s parliament.

An Austrian political party set up in February to oppose coronavirus restrictions has won a seat in the nation’s parliament, preliminary results show.

MFG – Menschen-Freiheit-Grundrechte, or People-Freedom-Fundamental Rights – campaigned mainly over social networks with a platform sceptical about vaccines and rejecting compulsory jabs.

Premilimary results show it won 6 per cent of votes in regional elections on Sunday, which scores it a seat in parliament.

Demonstrators gather in Vienna to protest against Covid-19 restrictions on September 11. Picture: Joe Klamar/AFP

Austria is gradually tightening the health pass introduced in the spring, and from October only fully vaccinated or those who have recovered will be able to enter stadiums and large venues in Vienna.

According to one poll, half of non-vaccinated voters backed the far-right FPO party, with a quarter voting MFG.

With just over 60 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, Austria is falling behind much of the developed world in terms of vaccination rates.

Austria has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the developed world. Picture: Alex Halada/AFP

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative, blames this slowdown on the FPO’s support for Covid-sceptic and conspiracy movements.

The anti-vax party was particularly popular in areas with low vaccination rates. It gained 20 per cent of votes in the Maria Neustift ward in Upper Austria, where only 44.7 per cent of people are vaccinated, according to local media.

MFG isn’t the only niche political group to surprise with strong results in Austria’s elections.

The Communist Party, which hasn’t been represented in federal parliament since 1959, unexpectedly won a city council election in Austria’s second-largest city Graz.

The Communists received 28.9 per cent of votes, ahead of incumbent mayor Siegfried Nagl’s People’s Party at 25.7 per cent, the Associated Press reports.

Mr Nagl, who has served as Graz mayor for 18 years, said he would step down from his post, while the Communist Party candidate, Elke Kahr, has not said whether she would seek the role.