The outgoing environmentalist president re-elected according to the first projections
Unifying and reassuring for the Austrians, the outgoing president should be re-elected. The far right, which had almost reached this position in 2016, is weakened.
Outgoing Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen would be re-elected, according to the first exit polls. (archives)
KEYSTONE/AP/Theresa Wey
The outgoing Austrian president, environmentalist Alexander Van der Bellen, considered a symbol of stability to face inflation, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, was re-elected on Sunday according to first projections published at the close of the polls.
Aged 78 and supported by a broad spectrum of the political class, Mr. Van der Bellen would win in the first round with 54.6% of the vote, far ahead of the other six candidates, according to these first projections published shortly after 5:00 p.m. (15:00 GMT). The official result should not be known until Monday.
“It would be good to see things clearly today, it would be good for Austria. This would allow us to fully concentrate (…) on the multitude of crises we are facing in Europe”, declared the head of state and big favorite of this presidential election, after having voted in Vienna at the end of the morning.
In the Alpine country of 9 million inhabitants, 6.4 million voters – including the Austro-American Arnold Schwarzenegger, the president’s strong supporter – were called to the polls.
Far right weakened
“I am in favor of stability,” Monika Gregor, a 73-year-old retiree, told AFP, calling the outgoing president a “very intelligent” man. But others preferred to give their voice to candidates from civil society.
Alexander Nittmann, a 35-year-old computer developer, chose punk singer Dominik Wlazny, the same age as him and founder of the “Beer Party”. “I think a bit of fresh air in politics doesn’t hurt,” he explained, deeming his campaign serious behind the humor.
The far-right FPÖ party, which almost won against Mr Van der Bellen in 2016 and dreamed of revenge this year, approached the ballot with a little-known candidate, Walter Rosenkranz, 60, who won 18.9% of the vote on Sunday, according to the first projections. He was only credited with 15% of the vote before the vote, contrary to recent elections in Sweden and Italy.
Corruption cases have caused Austria’s notorious extreme right to lose ground. Six years ago, she was the first in Europe to come close to victory in a presidential election.
Founded by former Nazis, the FPÖ finally lost with more than 46% of the vote, epilogue of a ballot with twists and turns that had kept Brussels and Austria’s western partners in suspense.
If the party had then acceded to the government by forming a coalition with the conservatives of the young Sebastian Kurz, it had to leave power in 2019 after an incredible scandal and has never since regained its past glory.
sons of refugees
Faced with these turmoil and the succession of chancellors, Alexander Van der Bellen, whose function is essentially ceremonial, guaranteed the continuity of the state.
He was thus able to present himself as “the only one who can avoid chaos”, according to political scientist Thomas Hofer, interviewed by AFP.
This pro-European also passes for “integrity” according to Julia Partheymüller, of the University of Vienna, which is “highly appreciated” in comparison with the “multiple crises facing many European countries”.
He led a sober campaign, advocating “clarity” and “competence” in order to “cross the turbulence as calmly as possible”. His atypical profile, however, in no way guaranteed him such a political destiny.
Austere, a little stiff even, agnostic married twice in Catholic land, the former boss of the Greens and dean of the faculty of economics in Vienna has been able to forget his strong anchoring on the left to bring people together.
Tongue-in-cheek, a heavy smoker with an eternal three-day beard, he is now happy to have himself photographed in loden – a traditional alpine jacket – at the foot of the glaciers to convince of his patriotism.
Because an extremely rare ecologist at the head of a democracy, he is also the son of refugees and has inherited an exotic Batavian surname: his Protestant family emigrated from the Netherlands to Russia in the 18th century.
His father, an aristocrat, and his Estonian mother joined Vienna during the Second World War before moving to Tyrol, fleeing the arrival of the Red Army.
AFP
You found an error?Please let us know.