Unity List (Austria): Difference between revisions

The Enotna Lista (Slovenian for "Unity List", German: Einheitsliste) or EL seeks to represent the autochthonous Slovenian minority in Carinthia. It came into existence in 1991, replacing the Klub der slowenischen Gemeinderäte (German: "Club of Slovenian Local Councillors"), which had existed as an initiative of local Slovenian party lists from various local councils. Slovenian party lists have regularly contested elections in Carinthia since 1950. The current chairperson of the EL is Vladimir Smrtnik.

Since the percentage of Slovenians in Carinthia is below election threshold in the Carinthian Parliament (10%), the EL can not represent the Carinthian Slovenians in the Carinthian or Austrian Parliament. In 1975 the EL missed a mandate in the Carinthian parliament by a few hundred votes (the vote tally then, of 6130, is the highest the party ever got after the second world war). In 1979, however, Carinthia was split up in four electoral districts, making it impossible for the EL to pass the threshold on its own. Therefore, on both Land and national levels, the EL has tended to participate in electoral unions (sometimes with the Greens, sometimes with the Liberal Forum). It is, however, represented on its own in several local councils in the bilingual region; currently, 52 local councillors are members of the EL.