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Team HC Strache – Alliance for Austria (german: Team HC Strache – Allianz für Österreich, HC) is a
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. It was founded in December 2019 under the name The Alliance for Austria (german: Die Allianz für Österreich, DAÖ) by three former members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) led by Karl Baron. In February 2020, former FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache confirmed he would run for the DAÖ in the
2020 Viennese state election The 2020 Viennese state election was held on 11 October 2020 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and The Greens. The SPÖ remained comfortably ...
. The party subsequently promoted Strache to federal party chairman and adopted its current name. The party failed to win seats in the election.


Background


Ibiza affair

On 17 May 2019, a secretly-recorded video featuring Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) politicians Heinz-Christian Strache and
Johann Gudenus Johann Gudenus or Johann Baptist Björn Graf von Gudenus (born 20 July 1976) is a former Austrian politician who served as a deputy leader of the Freedom Party. Early life Born into the noble Gudenus family, he is the second born son of F ...
was released to the press. In the video, both men appear receptive to proposals by a woman calling herself Alyona Makarova, posing as a niece of Russian businessman Igor Makarov, who suggests providing their party with positive news coverage in return for government contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hint at corrupt practices involving other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere. After the story broke, then-
Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
and FPÖ chairman Strache came under intense pressure to step down. The next day, he announced his resignation from the government and as party leader. The scandal led to the collapse of the federal government and a snap election in which the FPÖ suffered substantial losses. Strache was implicated in further corruption in September, and his FPÖ membership was suspended on 1 October. The same day, he announced his withdrawal from politics.


Foundation of the DAÖ

In the
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
branch of the Freedom Party, where Strache had begun his political career, he still retained some of his popularity. Karl Baron, a strong supporter, was removed as head of the FPÖ's
trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...
after he voiced his support for Strache to return to politics. On 12 December 2019, Baron and two other FPÖ members of the Viennese parliament, Dietrich Kops and Klaus Handler, announced that they were leaving the Vienna FPÖ and forming their own party named the Alliance for Austria (DAÖ). They stated their hope that Strache would lead the party in the upcoming Viennese election, and announced his appearance as a speaker at their "New Year's Meeting" on 23 January. On 13 December, Strache was officially expelled from the FPÖ. He stated that he would consider his next steps over Christmas, and did not rule out a return to politics. On 15 December, he denied having any interest in chairing DAÖ, and stated he hoped for a more sustainable project to assist his return. Strache indeed appeared as a speaker at the DAÖ conference on 23 January. There, he denigrated the FPÖ, describing its line toward him as "
ingratiation Ingratiating is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to influence another person by becoming more likeable to their target. This term was coined by social psychologist Edward E. Jones, who further defined ingratiating as "a cla ...
", and claimed it had "lost head, heart and soul" after his departure. He announced that he would run in the Viennese state election, though he did not directly confirm that he wanted to do so as the lead candidate of DAÖ, stating he needed to have further discussions before an official announcement was made. David Krutzler of '' Der Standard'' described this as a delaying tactic, with which Strache sought to "keep interest in his person simmering". Another conference was held on 23 February; in the lead-up, Strache announced that he would make his candidacy official there. He stated the party would seek to change its name to "List HC" or a similar title; "HC" is an abbreviation of "Heinz-Christian" and a common nickname for Strache in Austria. At an extraordinary party congress on 14 May, the DAÖ renamed itself to ''Team HC Strache – Alliance for Austria'', and adopted the abbreviation "HC" or "Team HC". Strache was also chosen as party chairman, with Baron becoming deputy. In July, a fourth FPÖ deputy in the Viennese parliament, Günter Kasal, defected to Team HC.


2020 Viennese state election

Team HC presented its list for the election in August. As expected, Strache was the lead candidate. The character of a number of candidates came under scrutiny, with one candidate recorded as having chanted
anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
slogans, such as "
Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
must go!" and "
Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...
must go!". Another had attended a protest against the Austrian
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
response, at which he had insulted federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and questioned whether the
SARS-CoV-2 virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a p ...
actually existed. A third was a professional
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
who had expressed anti-vaccination beliefs. Team HC won 3.3% of votes cast in the election, below the 5%
electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
to enter the legislature. Despite this, Strache insisted he would continue with the party and expand beyond Vienna, naming the local elections in
Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...
as his next goal.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Team HC Strache - Alliance for Austria Right-wing populism in Austria Eurosceptic parties in Austria Nationalist parties in Austria 2019 establishments in Austria Political parties established in 2019 Right-wing populist parties Freedom Party of Austria breakaway groups