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DPA
VIENNA
Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz and his People’s Party won the Austrian election with 37.1 percent of the vote, while the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) took a beating following a corruption scandal, a first projection showed on Sunday.
The FPOe’s dismal showing and Sunday’s boost for the Greens opened up the possibility of a majority coalition between the conservatives and the environmentalists.
Kurz had cancelled his coalition with the far right and called the snap election in May, after a video surfaced that showed FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache mulling infrastructure and media deals with a woman posing as a wealthy Russian donor.
The People’s Party (OeVP) gained 5.6 percentage points compared to the previous parliamentary vote in 2017, according to the projection that was based on 89 percent of counted ballots.
The FPOe, the OeVP’s foWhile the originators of the footage shot on Spain’s Ibiza island remain unknown, Strache stepped down as vice chancellor and FPOe chief, and is now under investigation for possible abuse of power.
Three days before the elections, prosecutors announced that they also suspect Strache of having defrauded his own party, despite his monthly 10,000-euro (11,000-dollar) expenses account.
Banking on tax cuts and his anti-immigration policies, Kurz emerged as the winner from the video scandal that not only brought down his government, it also cost him his job as chancellor in a no-confidence vote in May.
“Today the people voted us back to power,” Kurz told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, without commenting on coalition scenarios.
VIENNA
Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz and his People’s Party won the Austrian election with 37.1 percent of the vote, while the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) took a beating following a corruption scandal, a first projection showed on Sunday.
The FPOe’s dismal showing and Sunday’s boost for the Greens opened up the possibility of a majority coalition between the conservatives and the environmentalists.
Kurz had cancelled his coalition with the far right and called the snap election in May, after a video surfaced that showed FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache mulling infrastructure and media deals with a woman posing as a wealthy Russian donor.
The People’s Party (OeVP) gained 5.6 percentage points compared to the previous parliamentary vote in 2017, according to the projection that was based on 89 percent of counted ballots.
The FPOe, the OeVP’s foWhile the originators of the footage shot on Spain’s Ibiza island remain unknown, Strache stepped down as vice chancellor and FPOe chief, and is now under investigation for possible abuse of power.
Three days before the elections, prosecutors announced that they also suspect Strache of having defrauded his own party, despite his monthly 10,000-euro (11,000-dollar) expenses account.
Banking on tax cuts and his anti-immigration policies, Kurz emerged as the winner from the video scandal that not only brought down his government, it also cost him his job as chancellor in a no-confidence vote in May.
“Today the people voted us back to power,” Kurz told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, without commenting on coalition scenarios.
