Austria far-right candidate loses presidential vote
VIENNA: A Green Party-backed independent, Alexander Van der Bellen, defeated the Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer to become Austria’s next president, beating off a challenge by an anti-immigration candidate who had threatened to sour Austria’s ties to the European Union.
With counting still under way, Van der Bellen took an estimated 53.6 per cent of the vote to Hofer’s 46.4 per cent after Sunday’s repeat run-off election, public television channel ORF said, citing initial projections. Austrian Press Agency also projected a win for Van der Bellen based on early results, and within minutes Hofer conceded defeat on his Facebook site.
The result defied projections of a razor-tight finish and ends an acrimonious year of campaign politics that polariSed Austria. Van der Bellen, who pledged to prevent anti-EU forces from forming a government, now has to heal the rifts exposed over immigration and economic inequality.
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel welcomed Van der Bellen’s presidential election victory, hailing the result as a “victory of reason against right-wing populism,” according to an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper.
It’s the first time in 70 years the country has elected a presidential candidate outside the Social Democratic or Austrian People’s Party, after both the established parties were eliminated in earlier rounds of voting. It’s also the first time that a Green Party leader has won a popular election in Europe to become head of state since the global environmental movement began.
Austria’s Interior Ministry showed Van der Bellen won more rural support than he did during the May 22 runoff -- a result that was overturned by the Constitutional Court because of irregularities in counting.