Austria shifts to the Right with Kurz ‘victory’
Nationalists set for talks on coalition as 31-year-old is projected to win vote with anti-immigrant agenda
Austria’s far-right is on the verge of returning to government after elections yesterday. Sebastian Kurz’s conservative People’s Party was the clear winner in exit polls. But the nationalist Freedom Party looked set to be kingmakers in coalition talks after Mr Kurz, aged 31, failed to secure a majority.
THE far-right was on the verge of returning to government in Austria following elections yesterday.
Sebastian Kurz appeared all but certain to become the world’s youngest leader at just 31 after his conservative People’s Party (OVP) was the clear winner in initial exit polls. But the nationalist Freedom Party (FPO) led by Heinz-christian Strache looked set to emerge as kingmaker in coalition talks after Mr Kurz failed to win a majority.
With 85 per cent of votes counted, the Freedom Party was locked in a neck-and-neck battle for second place with the Social Democrat Party (SPO) of Christian Kern, the outgoing chancellor. The election was a triumph for Mr Kurz, who took his conservatives from third in the polls to winners in the space of just five months after taking over as party leader in May.
“Today we have won a huge mandate to change this country, and I promise you I will work with all my energy for change,” Mr Kurz told cheering supporters. “We want to establish a new culture in politics. And we want to change the country for the better.”
Mr Kurz now has a mandate to pursue the hardline anti-immigrant policies he introduced as party leader.
He will be hailed by supporters for preventing an outright victory by the Freedom Party, which was leading in opinion polls just months ago. But his critics say he has only done so by adopting much of the nationalists’ rhetoric and policies, and there will be concern in European Union capitals that a hardright bloc is now emerging in central Europe, with Mr Kurz lining up alongside Viktor Orban in Hungary and the Law and Justice Party government in Poland.
“This result is a huge success. It shows there is a desire for change,” Mr Strache said as the results came in. In fact, many in his Freedom Party may see the result as something of a disappointment.
The party was leading in the polls until Mr Kurz’s dramatic rise, but last night it was facing the possibility of being beaten into third place.
‘Today we have a huge mandate to change this country, and I promise you I will work with all my energy for change’
The OVP was clearly out in front, with 31.7 per cent, followed by the Social Democrats on 26.9 per cent and the Freedom Party on 26 per cent.
That opened up the possibility of protracted coalition negotiations, with all three parties involved.
The Social Democrats have indicated they would be open to coalition talks if they came second and could yet snatch victory from Mr Kurz’s hands, after saying they were prepared to consider a coalition with the Freedom Party.
But it is Mr Kurz who will get the first chance to form a government as winner, and much of what he has said has suggested the Freedom Party could be his preferred partner. He has openly touted policies formulated by the two parties working together at a regional level as national solutions, and it was not lost on observers that he told his supporters last night: “We want to work with all political forces in the country.”
Mr Strache made his view of a probable coalition clear when he told supporters: “Sixty per cent of the country has voted for an FPO agenda.
“There has been a huge shift to the Right. We have seen it across Europe.
“We are not pleased with the result, but we can live with it,” Mr Kern, the Social Democrat chancellor, said.