Austrians vote with conservatives in lead
VIENNA (AFP) — Austrians voted Sunday, with the conservatives expected to win most seats but not a majority, forcing them into difficult coalition negotiations after a corruption scandal brought down their government formed with the far-right.
The People’s Party (OeVP) led by 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz is predicted to win around 33 percent, up slightly from the last elections two years ago but not enough to form a government on its own.
“We had too much chaos in the last months. We hope for something less chaotic,” one Vienna voter, Clara Heisinger, told AFP.
The parliamentary elections were brought about by the “Ibiza-gate” corruption scandal that engulfed Kurz’s far-right coalition partner in May, after just 18 months in government together.
Kurz has “nothing to win, but a lot to lose”, Die Presse daily warned in an editorial on Saturday.
“Even with a nice plus on Sunday, it is more difficult for him than in 2017,” it said, adding there was no partner that quite suited any more.
With 6.4 million people eligible to vote, polling stations across the country opened at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) when the first projections are expected.
Analysts say “whizz-kid” Kurz could once again partner with the Freedom Party (FPOe) in a re-run of the coalition that has been touted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other nationalists as a model for all of Europe.
“We vote to decide in which direction we will go — that of Orban and the populists, or if we stay oriented toward Europe…. we decide if the corruption will go on,” Vienna voter Gabriel Steiner, 29, said.
Fresh allegations of wrong-doing have shaken the far-right FPOe over the past week.
Prosecutors confirmed Thursday they were investigating Heinz-Christian Strache, who resigned as FPOe leader and vice-chancellor in May because of “Ibiza-gate”, over fraudulent party expense claims.
Kurz himself has also warned that left-leaning parties could gain more seats than predicted and then band together to form a coalition without him.