Austrian
far-right party wins first round of presidential election
Norbert
Hofer of the Freedom party takes 36.7% of the vote as candidates from
the two governing parties fail to make runoff
Reuters in Vienna
Sunday 24 April 2016
22.28 BST
Austria’s
government was licking its wounds on Monday after a historic triumph
for the anti-immigrant far-right Freedom party in a presidential
ballot.
It won more than a
third of the vote in Sunday’s election and will face an independent
in next month’s run-off, dumping the country’s two main parties
from the post for the first time.
It was the far
right’s best result in a national election after a campaign that
focused on the impact of the crisis caused by the arrival of
approximately 100,000 asylum seekers in Austria since last summer.
Norbert Hofer, who
ran on an anti-immigrant and anti-Europe platform, won 36.4% of the
vote to become head of state. He will face Alexander Van der Bellen,
a former Green party figurehead, who won 20.4%, according to official
preliminary results.
While the presidency
is largely a ceremonial role, the fact that neither of the main
ruling parties will be battling for the post on 22 May marks a major
change in Austrian politics – as well as the rising role of the
far-right in Europe.
Members of the
centre-left Social Democrats and the conservative People’s party
held onto the job since it was first put to a popular vote in 1951.
The two parties have ruled the nation of 8.7 million in tandem for
most of the postwar era.
The president is
head of state, swears in the chancellor, has the authority to dismiss
the cabinet and is commander in chief of the military.
The election outcome
was “a resounding slap in the face” for the government coalition,
said Wolfgang Bachmayer, who founded market research institute OGM.
His comments were
echoed by political analyst Peter Filzmaier. “Only those who are
satisfied vote for a government party or its candidate,” he said.
“This time, the annoyed voted for Norbert Hofer.”
Around 70% of
eligible voters cast their ballots, a big turnout compared with
around 50% six years ago when Social Democrat Heinz Fischer, now 77,
was elected for his second term. He could not run for a third term.
Peter McDonald,
general secretary of co-ruling People’s party acknowledged the
scale of the defeat after coming fifth in the poll, with just 11.2%
of the vote. “We have experienced a landslide that should give the
entire political centre food for thought,” he said.
The social
democratic chancellor Werner Faymann, whose party ranked fourth, said
the outcome was a clear warning to the government to work harder and
cooperate better.
Should Hofer get the
top job, he could push to bring forward a parliamentary election due
to take place in 2018 as support for his party has been growing.
Polls show the Freedom party above 30%, while the coalition parties
would struggle to get a combined majority.
Showing the
far-right’s growing confidence in Europe, Marine Le Pen, leader of
France’s National Front, hailed a “beautiful result”, writing
on Twitter: “Bravo to the Austrian people”.
Both the candidates
who made it through to the run-off had taken aim at the government
over its handling of the migrant crisis. Van der Bellen criticised
the government for being too harsh in its treatment of asylum
applicants, while Hofer said it had been too soft.
“It could hardly
be any more dramatic,” said political consultant Thomas Hofer,
adding that he thought Van der Bellen would face a difficult task to
win the run-off with the gap between him and Hofer.
Neither Faymann nor
vice chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner from the People’s party said
they would make any recommendation for the run-off. Voters should
decide independently, they said.
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