Far right rally but voters leave poll on knife edge
Austria was on a knife edge yesterday as its presidential elections put a far-right party within reach of taking power in a European country for first time since before World War II.
Interior ministry figures gave Norbert Hofer, for the far-right Freedom party, 51.9 per cent of the vote as ballots were counted, with Alexander van der Bellen, a Green running as an independent, on 48.1 per cent. The turnout was 72 per cent.
Members of the Freedom party – which has links to former Nazis – began celebrating at a rally in Vienna yesterday, hailing the first national election victory of a farright party since the 1930s rise of fascism. ‘‘Full throttle, another beer,’’ chanted the crowds as they were led in song by a rock band.
The result will be decided when 885,437 postal ballots are counted today. They are expected to favour van der Bellen, after one of the closest and most-watched European elections in decades.
Austria has split down the middle on the European Union’s migration crisis and the future of the euro. Working-class voters have ditched centrist parties en masse for Hofer’s slick brand of anti-immigrant populism.
The polarised second round of voting follows the collapse of centre-ground politics after the two mainstream parties, the Social Democrats and the People’s party – who have taken turns in power since 1945 – won less than a quarter of the vote in the first round of the presidential election.
‘‘Austria is now a divided country,’’ said Matthias Strolz, the leader of the liberal Neos party. ‘‘The signal is clear: citizens are fed up.’’
Both remaining candidates have threatened to politicise the normally symbolic role of Austrian president by blocking governments or triggering national elections, heralding political and constitutional crises in the months and years ahead.
If he wins, Hofer has said he will wield presidential powers in an unprecedented way to dissolve the centre-right and left coalition of the Social Democrats and People’s party. That would trigger parliamentary elections at a time when his far-right party is ahead in the opinion polls.
On the other side, van der Bellen has vowed to use his powers to block the Freedom party from taking power in parliamentary elections in 2018, or earlier if political turmoil continues after the resignation of the chancellor – the Austrian equivalent of a prime minister – earlier this month.
Hofer’s election would prepare the way for Heinz-Christian Strache, the Freedom party’s leader, to fight national elections if the fragile government fails to restrict the influx of migrants into Austria to 37,500, compared with the 90,000 who arrived last year.
Last week Stefan Petzner, a senior Freedom party official before he was expelled by Strache, warned that Hofer had the hidden agenda of using presidential office to dissolve the government at the most timely moment for the farright to win.
‘‘It is hard not to shake the feeling that he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a ticking time bomb with this talk about dismissing the government,’’ he said.
In last month’s first round of voting Hofer unexpectedly beat van der Bellen by 35 per cent to 21 per cent, with the Social Democrats and People’s party hitting a historic low of 22 per cent.
Despite a charming and amiable personality, Hofer, 45 has strong views on Muslim immigration and boasts that he carries a Glock 9mm pistol because ‘‘in times of uncertainty people seek to protect themselves’’.
Speaking at a pre-election rally, he said: ‘‘Islam has no place in Austria.’’
Exit polls yesterday suggested that Austria’s urban middle class has rallied behind van der Bellen, who declared himself ‘‘cautiously optimistic’’ as the votes were counted.
According to polling by Sora, Hofer won 71 per cent of the working-class vote but lost heavily to women and middle-class voters in cities such as Vienna.
The 72-year-old Green presidential candidate has declared himself a ‘‘child of refugees’’, after his White Russian parents fled from Stalinism during the war. ‘‘I’ve experienced how Austria rose from the ruins of World War Two, caused by the madness of nationalism,’’ he said at the weekend.
Asked if he was surprised by the last-minute surge of support, van der Bellen, noted for a sometimes dry, professorial style, replied: ‘‘Not really.’’
‘‘It is hard not to shake the feeling that he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a ticking time bomb with this talk about dismissing the government.’’
Stefan Petzner, senior Freedom party official