Polls have closed in on Sunday following a , with the first projections indicating the over the governing conservatives.
Predictions by Institut Foresight put the FPÖ at over 29% of the vote, a slightly better result than predicted by the surveys done ahead of the Sunday polls. If the projection is confirmed, the FPÖ will have the most seats in the new Austrian parliament.
On Sunday evening, FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl said his party was ready to lead the government and to talk with all parties.
The incumbent ÖVP — center-right conservatives led by Chancellor Karl Nehammer — also scored better than expected, securing 26.2%, with center-left Social Democrats at 20.4%. The Greens, who are part of the ruling coalition with the conservatives, seem set to secure 8.6% of support.
The early projections were published minutes after the polls closed, with the actual results still to come. However, Chancellor Nehammer conceded defeat by Sunday evening.
Nehammer rejects working with FPÖ’s Kickl
Immigration concerns and an economic downturn have dominated the electoral landscape in the Alpine EU nation. Under the election program titled “Fortress Austria”, the FPÖ is calling for more deportations of “uninvited foreigners” and suspending the right to asylum with an emergency law. They also urged ending sanctions against Russia.
“The voter has spoken. Change is wanted in our country,” FPÖ general secretary Michael Schnedlitz said.
Meanwhile, ÖVP’s general secretary Christian Stocker reiterated that Chancellor Nehammer will not be working with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, saying “that was the case yesterday, and it is the case today and it will still be the case tomorrow.”
During the campaign, Nehammer sought to portray Kickl as a toxic extremist, but signaled the conservatives could cooperate with the FPÖ as a whole.
Kickl capitalizes on pandemic, migration, inflation
The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) has been in government several times but it has never topped a national vote before Sunday. Pre-election polls already showed the anti-immigrant party could win the biggest share of votes with 27% support, and the early projections published after the polls closed put them even farther ahead.
Former interior minister since 2021.
Under his abrasive leadership, the party — which was — has seen its popularity rebound on voter anger and anxieties over COVID restrictions, migration, inflation and the Ukraine war.
Kickl cast his vote on Sunday afternoon, saying he had “a good feeling” about the election outcome, adding that “the mood is right, and the right mood will turn into votes.”
But the FPÖ leader was evasive when asked by reporters if he was willing to step down for the good of his party. Kickl said he would “always accept the voters’ decision, whatever happens.”
FPÖ could still be blocked from government
Analysts say even if the FPÖ wins the most votes, it will likely not have enough seats or partners to form a government. A three-way coalition between the conservatives, Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS could also be a possibility.
Voting began at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and finished ten hours later. Over 6.3 million people of Austria’s 9 million residents were eligible to vote.
The head of Germany’s far-right AfD party, Alice Weidel, congratulated FPÖ after the projections were published. The German party, which shares large elements of its ideology with FPÖ, also this month.
dvv,dj/nm (AFP, dpa)
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