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May 22nd, 2016 
Awake Goy ORF reported exit polls standing at 50.1 per cent for Norbert Hofer and 49.9 per cent for 73-year-old veteran ecologist Alexander van der Bellen. But this did not last long, with the two later leveling out at 50 percent each. With the race so neck-and-neck, the situation could still change, with results shifting in either direction.
The Greens campaign for the rights of minorities and socio-ecological tax reform, as well as ecological issues such as environmental protection, with their Charter of 2001 stating “direct democracy, nonviolence, ecology, solidarity, feminism and self-determination” as their basic values. Van der Bellen led the party between 1997 and 2008, the years when the Greens firmly established themselves as the country’s fourth biggest political player.
As for candidates from the traditionally powerful centrist coalition parties (Social Democratic SPO and Conservative OVP), they were thrown out of the presidential race in the first round of the election, held in April.
Back then, FPO’s Hofer surprised the global community by winning around 36 percent of the vote, followed by the Green Party’s Alexander Van der Bellen with some 20 percent. Despite Hofer’s success in outrunning his rivals, he failed to secure a majority and so the second round of the election had to be held.
If official results prove initial exit polls, Hofer could become the first far-right head of state on the European continent since World War II.
The prospect of Hofer’s victory has shocked European political establishments long before the runoffs.
Senior European officials like Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, have issued warnings that “Europe’s character will be changed” if the FPO wins the post.
Despite the presidency being a largely ceremonial post in Austria, the head of state has one key power – to dismiss the government and usher in a chancellor from his own party, which is currently leading in the polls, and the newly elected president has already threatened to do so.
“You will be surprised what can be done [by a president],” Hofer said in a recent TV debate. Thus Hofer’s victory could be the springboard for his party’s success in the next parliamentary elections to be held in 2018.
Hofer and the FPO’s nationalist appeal to put “Austria first,” paired by strong opposition to “forced multiculturalism, globalization and mass immigration” secured the candidate increasing support because of deepening frustration with the ruling parties and how they are dealing with the migrant crisis that’s engulfed Europe.
READ MORE: Far right gains in Austrian presidential race – ‘Turning point in country’s politics’
“I’m not a dangerous person, of course. But those people […] who don’t appreciate our country, who go to war for the Islamic State or rape women – I say to those people: This is not your home! You can’t stay in Austria. Because we differentiate very clearly between those who continue to build up Austria together with us and those who only care about destroying this country. We have to make this differentiation,” Hofer said in a recent election rally.
Last year some 90,000 people claimed asylum in Austria, more than 1 percent of the country’s 8.6 million population.
Hofer has also shocked the public, carrying a Glock gun openly to rallies, defending this as a “natural consequence” of immigration.
A victory by Hofer would have huge significance, emboldening far-right populist politicians in other European states where the right’s ratings have surged on a wave of anti-refugee demagoguery and economic discontent.
Britain’s eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) is already being seen as the country’s legitimate third party. The Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, made huge gains in votes in major German legislatures in March. There have been far-right gains in France, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Norway and in Greece, where the neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” became the country’s third-largest political group. Even in Cyprus, where a parliamentary election is being held this Sunday, a right-wing party is in the lead, according to exit polls.
Source Article from https://www.rt.com/news/344020-far-right-austria-president/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
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