In a surprise, Austria elects Green party leader for president
VIENNA: The head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) on Sunday ruled out launching a legal challenge against the defeat of the party’s candidate Norbert Hofer in the presidential election.
“This time clearly there are no complaints... Today we can be sure that citizens’ votes were properly handled,” Heinz-Christian Strache said on public television. In May the FPOe success- fully challenged Hofer’s defeat and secured a re-run. If confirmed, the re-run result will be a relief for Europe’s political establishment and a vindication for former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen, who narrowly defeated Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party in the original runoff in May, before the re-run was ordered.
Van der Bellen had a clear lead over Hofer, according to a projection by pollster SORA for broadcaster ORF that included a partial vote count. The projection showed Van der Bellen on 53.6 per cent and Hofer on 46.4 per cent, with a margin of error of 1.2 percentage points.
Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen was set totake the Austrian presidency Sunday, according to a first projection that showed him at 53.6 per cent of the votes, against 46.4 per cent for his far-right rival Norbert Hofer.
The projection by public broadcaster ORF was based on 58 per cent of counted ballots. It had a margin of error of 1.2 percentage points,meaning that Hofer’s defeat was all but certain.
It was the second win for Van der Bellen in this unusual presidential race.
The pro-European Green candidate had already won in May with 50.3 per cent.
However, Hofer’s Freedom Party had successfully appealed the result,as procedural voting irregularities were uncovered in May towns.
The election of Austria’s president has caught international attention, as a victory for Hofer in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union could have boosted similar far-right euro sceptics across the bloc.