Opposition#
Opposition, the groups opposing the government in or out of parliament and having no governmental functions. While the opposition was almost as strong as the government during the period of the First Republic (in 1933 there was a difference of only one parliamentary seat), during the Second Republic - with the exception of the minority government under Bruno Kreisky in 1970/1971 - the opposition parties have been markedly weaker than the governing parties. Opposition parties were: KPOe (Austrian Communist Party) 1947-1959, SPOe (Austrian Social Democratic Party) 1966-1970, OeVP (Austrian People´s Party) 1970-1987, WdU (forerunner of FPOe or Austrian Freedom Party) 1949-1983 and again from 1987, the Austrian Green Party since 1986. Right-wing groups and - since 1959 - the KPOe have constituted extra-parliamentary opposition movements; the Green movement also began as an opposition outside of parliament.