Austria: Van der Bellen re-elected president with 56%

the “green” Alexander Van der Bellen is re-elected to the office of the federal president of Austria from the round of elections, as, according to the first official results, he gathers 56.01% of the votes.

“Thank you very much, it’s really a great night for me, believe me. My biggest worry was that people would take literally what was being said all the time, that victory was certain, and not turn out to vote. My main concern was participation. The election is a celebration of democracy,” said Mr Van der Bellen shortly after the first official results were announced.

In response to a question about whether he plans to become more active in his control of government, the re-elected president he emphasized that his most important goal is to be reliable. “People know how I react to crises and that’s why I won’t announce that I’m going to be a different president. Of course, one must decide whether to speak or not. In troubled times like today, at least we won’t get bored,” said Mr. Van der Belen and underlined the need for solidarity and a joint response to problems.

As public television ÖRF broadcasts, the candidate of the populist right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) Walter Rosenkranz gathers 17.6%, followed by the lawyer and former columnist for the tabloid “Krone” Tassilo Valentin with 8.8% and the head of Dominik Vlasny of the Beer Party with 8.03%. Former FPÖ politician Gerald Groz gets 5.8%. The ruling People’s Party ÖVP and the Social Democratic Party SPÖ did not field a candidate in the presidential election.

Voter turnout reached 65%, while in the 2016 presidential elections it was 68.5% in the first round and 74.2% in the second round.

RES-EMP

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