| Country: | Austria |
| Flag Year: | state |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1995 Austrian legislative election |
| Previous Year: | 1995 |
| Next Election: | 2002 Austrian legislative election |
| Next Year: | 2002 |
| Seats For Election: | All 183 seats in the National Council |
| Majority Seats: | 92 |
| Election Date: | 3 October 1999 |
| Turnout: | 80.42% (5.56pp) |
| Image1: | Bundeskanzler Viktor Klima (cropped).JPG |
| Leader1: | Viktor Klima |
| Party1: | Social Democratic Party of Austria |
| Last Election1: | 38.06%, 71 seats |
| Seats1: | 65 |
| Seat Change1: | 6 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,532,448 |
| Percentage1: | 33.15% |
| Swing1: | 4.91pp |
| Leader2: | Jörg Haider |
| Party2: | Freedom Party of Austria |
| Last Election2: | 21.89%, 41 seats |
| Seats2: | 52 |
| Seat Change2: | 11 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,244,087 |
| Percentage2: | 26.91% |
| Swing2: | 5.02pp |
| Image4: | W Schuessel7.jpg |
| Leader4: | Wolfgang Schüssel |
| Party4: | Austrian People's Party |
| Last Election4: | 28.29%, 52 seats |
| Seats4: | 52 |
| Seat Change4: | 0 |
| Popular Vote4: | 1,243,672 |
| Percentage4: | 26.91% |
| Swing4: | 1.38pp |
| Image5: | Alexander Van der Bellen1.jpg |
| Leader5: | Alexander Van der Bellen |
| Party5: | The Greens – The Green Alternative |
| Last Election5: | 4.81%, 9 seats |
| Seats5: | 14 |
| Seat Change5: | 5 |
| Popular Vote5: | 342,260 |
| Percentage5: | 7.40% |
| Swing5: | 2.59pp |
| Chancellor | |
| Before Election: | Viktor Klima |
| Before Party: | Social Democratic Party of Austria |
| After Election: | Wolfgang Schüssel |
| After Party: | Austrian People's Party |
Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 3 October 1999.[1] Although the Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the National Council, a right-wing coalition government was formed by the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) after several months of negotiations. Although the FPÖ had finished a fraction of a point ahead of the ÖVP in the popular vote, ÖVP leader Wolfgang Schüssel became Chancellor rather than controversial FPÖ leader Jörg Haider. Haider, who had also been elected Landeshauptmann of Carinthia, was not appointed to the cabinet and resigned as party leader.[2]
However, foreign governments remained critical of the FPÖ's inclusion in the government and the fourteen other member countries of the European Union imposed sanctions on the country, whilst domestically the government faced protests organised by the SPÖ and Greens.[2] However, this pressure on the government helped stabilise it and when it became clear that the FPÖ was not going to be excluded from government, sanctions were lifted.[2]
Voter turnout was 80.4%.[3]
The table below lists parties represented in the 20th National Council.
| Name | Ideology | Leader | 1995 result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | ||||||
| SPÖ | Social Democratic Party of Austria | Social democracy | Viktor Klima | 38.1% | |||
| ÖVP | Austrian People's Party | Christian democracy | Wolfgang Schüssel | 28.3% | |||
| FPÖ | Freedom Party of Austria | Right-wing populism Euroscepticism | Jörg Haider | 21.9% | |||
| LiF | Liberal Forum | Liberalism | Heide Schmidt | 5.5% | |||
| GRÜNE | The Greens – The Green Alternative | Green politics | Alexander Van der Bellen | 4.8% | |||
| State | SPÖ | FPÖ | ÖVP | Grüne | LiF | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41.9 | 21.0 | 30.6 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 1.0 | |
| 35.7 | 38.6 | 16.3 | 5.5 | 2.6 | 1.3 | |
| 33.8 | 22.5 | 32.9 | 6.0 | 2.9 | 1.9 | |
| 33.1 | 26.8 | 28.6 | 7.4 | 2.7 | 1.4 | |
| 28.9 | 29.4 | 27.8 | 8.4 | 3.8 | 1.7 | |
| 33.8 | 29.2 | 26.8 | 5.8 | 2.6 | 1.8 | |
| 23.1 | 28.0 | 32.9 | 9.7 | 3.7 | 2.6 | |
| 18.2 | 30.2 | 35.2 | 10.0 | 4.8 | 1.6 | |
| 37.9 | 24.8 | 17.0 | 10.3 | 7.0 | 3.0 | |
| 33.2 | 26.9 | 26.9 | 7.4 | 3.6 | 2.0 | |
| Source: Austrian Interior Ministry |