Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz seems to be re-emerging on top of the “Russiagate”-style scandal that brought down his coalition partner and resulted in the government collapse, projections of the Sunday vote count show.
First projections based on a partial vote count show that Kurz’s party has won the snap election with a comfortable margin, with news agency APA suggesting that his People’s Party (OVP) would come first, with 37.1 percent, while Social Democrats would score 22.6 percent, the Freedom Party (FPO) would score 16.7 percent, the Greens 13 percent, and the liberal NEOS party 7.8 percent.
This would mean OVP re-emerges from the so-called “Ibizagate” affair even stronger than in the 2017 election, the Greens are set to return to the parliament in force – which they missed altogether last time around – with both the Social Democrats and the FPO losing ground.
Wow… first exit polls in Austria showing a tremendous victory for Sebastian Kurz https://t.co/sLHF0Kk31t
The main issue being closely followed by Western governments and media is whether Kurz will decide to restore the “anti-immigrant” right-wing coalition, or seek the support of the mainstream European left instead.
The May scandal saw Kurz distance himself from his former coalition partner, FPO’s Heinz-Christian Strache, a victim of a ‘honeytrap’ featuring an actual femme fatale – a “Russian oligarch’s niece.” Though that turned out to be a sting operation with a paid actress, and Strache vigorously denied the corruption allegations leveled against him, the OVP-FPO coalition government was soon no more. Notably, the video, which had actually been filmed several years prior, emerged right before the European Parliament elections.
Kurz, who had not made his position clear ahead of the election, has been under apparent European pressure to break up with his right-wing allies, which EU officials often paint in a strongly negative light. In a not-so-subtle congratulatory tweet to the gaining Austrian liberals, Belgian MEP and Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said he saw “a strong signal against the backward & corrupt policies of Strache & the far-right & for an open, liberal, pro-European Austria!”
Sebastian Kurz and FPO’s Norbert Hofer seen ahead of a TV panel on Austrian snap election results on September 29, 2019.
And although Strache has been replaced by Norbert Hofer, things are not looking optimistic for the eurosceptic right. The FPO is “preparing for the opposition,” Hofer told reporters Sunday.
On the other hand, the Greens are not exactly ready to greet Kurz with open arms. Their first post-vote comment demanded “radical change” from the former chancellor for them to consider a coalition. The voter bases of the OVP and the Greens are also said to be at odds with each other, over environmental policy. It remains to be seen if Kurz decides to submit to this “radical change” – possibly involving a more mainstream, pro-EU policy – or if he chooses to stick to the tried and tested ways, which could, in part, be attributed to his unfading popularity.
Sebastian Kurz and Green Party’s Werner Kogler seen ahead of a TV panel on Austrian snap election results on September 29, 2019.
