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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2016 19:03:40 GMT
The law-and-order candidate of Austria’s right-wing party swept the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, winning over 35 percent of the vote for the party’s best ever result. Government coalition contenders were among the five losers, signaling deep voter rejection and political uncertainty ahead.  The triumph by Norbert Hofer eclipses his Freedom Party’s best previous national showing — more than 27 percent support in 1996 elections that decided Austria’s membership in the European Union.  His declared willingness to challenge the governing coalition of center-left Social Democrats and centrist People’s Party spells potential confrontation ahead — Hofer might push for new parliamentary elections should he win the May 22 runoff in hopes that his Freedom Party will triumph. Preliminary final results with absentee ballots still to be counted gave Hofer 35.5 percent support, far ahead of Alexander Van der Bellen of the Greens party who ran as an independent. Still, with 20.4 percent backing, he will challenge Hofer in the second round.  |
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Post by Admin on May 25, 2016 19:01:39 GMT
 Austria's new president has vowed to listen to the people's "fear and anger" after his far-right opponent narrowly missed out on a landmark victory. Independent Alexander Van der Bellen beat the Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer by just 31,000 votes among the 4.64 million cast in Sunday's election. The victor accepted there was a "rift" but said: "We are two sides of the same coin. Together we make up Austria." Mainstream European politicians expressed relief at the result. If he had won, Mr Hofer would have become the first far-right head of state of a European Union nation. In nine out of Austria's 10 main cities Mr Van der Bellen came top, whereas Mr Hofer dominated the rural areas, the Austrian broadcaster ORF reported (in German).  Support for Mr Hofer was exceptionally strong among manual workers - nearly 90%. The vote for Mr Van der Bellen was much stronger among people with a university degree or other higher education qualifications. |
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Post by Admin on Jul 2, 2016 18:49:32 GMT
 Austria's presidential election runoff must be held again, the Constitutional Court ruled on Friday, handing the Freedom Party's narrowly defeated candidate another chance to become the first far-right head of state in the European Union.  The verdict comes a week after Britain delighted anti-EU groups by voting to leave the bloc. Concerns about immigration and jobs featured prominently in that referendum, as they did in Austria's knife-edge election.  Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration and anti-EU Freedom Party (FPO) lost the May 22 vote to former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen by less than one percentage point, or around 31,000 votes, in the race for what is largely a ceremonial position. The court found more than twice that number of postal ballots had been affected by breaches of the electoral code, forcing it to order a re-run. Irregularities included ballots being processed before the official start of the count the morning after the election, and counts being carried out in the absence of party observers, often because officials were racing to provide a result quickly. |
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Post by Admin on Dec 7, 2016 18:26:27 GMT
 The center-left candidate handily defeated his far-right challenger in Austria’s presidential election on Sunday, boosting the political establishment in Europe as it sought to contain the fallout of Donald Trump’s victory in the United States and thwart the spread of nationalism. The far-right Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer conceded defeat on his Facebook page less than 30 minutes after polls closed and following projections showing a surprisingly strong lead for Alexander Van der Bellen. The 72-year-old elder statesman and former Green Party politician was winning by 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted.  The result was an unexpectedly clear victory for Austria’s beleaguered political establishment – one suggesting the aggressive tactics and Trump-style campaign deployed by the Austrian far-right may have hurt more than they helped.  |
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Post by Admin on Oct 16, 2017 18:19:25 GMT
 Sebastian Kurz, a 31-year-old conservative, is set to become the next chancellor of Austria and Europe's youngest leader, though he will likely need to form a coalition to rule, early results from Sunday's election show.  The People's Party (OVP), which Kurz has led since May, is widely expected to form an alliance with the Freedom Party (FPO), putting the far-right in an Austrian governing coalition for the first time in more than 10 years.  With 90% of the votes counted, the OVP has gained the largest share of Parliament's powerful National Council, with more than 31% of the vote, state broadcaster ORF reports. That should translate to 62 of 183 seats, according to ORF.  Immigration has dominated the campaign. Kurz has taken a hard line, calling for limits on the number of refugees entering Europe and benefits cuts for EU migrants living in Austria. In 2016, Kurz spearheaded a border crackdown across the Balkans designed to stem the flow of migrants, and this year he proposed plans to seal off the Mediterranean route to Europe. |
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