Sandro Steiner (1931-) was an Austrian OVP politician who served as Chancellor of Austria from 3 June 2002, succeeding Laurenz Hamerling.
Biography[]
Sandro Steiner was born in Linz, Austria in 1931. Raised in the Hitler Youth, Steiner manned an anti-aircraft gun during the Battle of Vienna in 1945. After the war, Steiner joined the Christian democratic Austrian People's Party (OVP), and he practiced law before becoming a magistrate. He was elected to the National Council at the 1990 election, and, in 2002, he was elected Chancellor to succeed the term-limited OVP incumbent Laurenz Hamerling.
Chancellorship[]
Steiner inherited a budget of €180 million with a weekly increase of €4 million. The National Council voted 25-1 for a food control program, 17-5 to keep the port tax, 21-6 to fund national parks, 17-8 to retain a public smoking ban, 22-5 against birthright citizenship, 15-12 to host the Olympics, 20-9 against gender quotas, 21-10 against religious instruction in schools, 16-11 to keep the Tobin tax, 31-1 for mandatory military service, 17-9 to keep gambling legal, 16-13 to keep the land tax, 18-12 to keep the income tax, 17-11 to abolish universal basic income, and 21-3 for road maintenance.
On 22 September 2003, new elections were held, and the FPO fell to 31.17% and 11/35 seats, the OVP fell to 31% and 11/35 seats, the SPO rose to 29.06% and 10/35 seats, and the Greens rose to 8.78% and 3/35 seats. With politics gridlocked, the future of the chancellorship came down to the forming of a coalition. An SPO-Greens-OVP coalition supplied 18 votes for Steiner to 12 votes for FPO leader Felix Reinhardt, leading to the continuation of centrist rule over Austria.