Projections based on preliminary results from Sunday’s presidential election in Austria showed Norbert Hofer narrowly leading — a result that would put a right-wing politician into the office for the first time since World War II. But the race with nearly 67 percent of votes counted remained too close to call
The projections by the SORA polling institute shortly after polls closed gave Hofer with 50.1 percent of the vote. His rival, Alexander Van der Bellen, was at 49.8 percent. The margin of error was at 1.8 percentage points, meaning final results were not yet clear.
Candidates backed by the dominant Social Democratic and centrist People’s Party were eliminated in last month’s first round, which means neither party would hold the presidency for the first time since the end of the war.
That reflects deep disillusionment with the political status quo and their approach to the migrant crisis and other issues.
Sponsored Links
FinTech Giant Betterment Gets $100M Leg Up On The Competition
Fortune | Betterment
You Won’t Believe What These 70’s Beauties Look Like Now!!
Definition
Hofer and Van der Bellen drew clear lines between themselves during the campaign.
Asked as he arrived to vote Sunday what differentiated him from Hofer, Van der Bellen, a Greens politicians running as an independent, said: “I think I’m pro-European and there are some doubts as far as Mr. Hofer is concerned.”
Hofer, in turn, used his last pre-election gathering to deliver a message with anti-Muslim overtones.
“To those in Austria who go to war for the Islamic State or rape women – I say to those people: ‘This is not your home,'” he told a cheering crowd.
Later, Hofer sought to soothe international fears that he is a radical far-righter.
The Austria Press Agency cited him as telling foreign reporters Sunday that he is “really OK,” and “not a dangerous person.”
The elections are reverberating beyond Austria’s borders. A Hofer win would be viewed by European parties of all political stripes as evidence of a further advance of populist Eurosceptic parties at the expense of the establishment.
In Austria, the result could upend decades of business-as-usual politics, with candidates serving notice they are not satisfied with the ceremonial role for which most predecessors have settled.
Van der Bellen says he would not swear in a Freedom Party chancellor even if that party wins the next elections, scheduled within the next two years. Hofer has threatened to dismiss Austria’s government coalition of the Social Democrats and the People’s Party if it fails to heed his repeated admonitions to do a better job — and is casting himself as the final arbiter of how the government is performing
