Austria election: Far-right contender and rival to hold rallies

[Ghost Dog]

Source: BBC

Austria's far-right Freedom Party presidential candidate Norbert Hofer and his rival, Green-backed Alexander Van der Bellen, are to hold final rallies ahead of a run-off vote.

Mr Hofer, 45, won last month's first round, but failed to avoid the run-off. If he wins on Sunday, Mr Hofer could become the EU's first far-right head of state, although Austria's president plays a largely ceremonial role... In the first round of voting, Mr Hofer secured 35% of the votes, while Mr Van der Bellen, polled 21%.

For the first time since World War Two, the candidates from Austria's two main parties - the Social Democrats and the People's Party - did not make it to the run-off. Both parties have governed Austria for decades - either alone or in coalition.

This is a big shake-up in Austrian politics, as the country has had a president from the centre-left or centre-right since 1945...


Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36339063

[pampango]

1. Recent opinion polls seem to show it at 50-50 or a slight edge to the far-right.

He wants to build a fence on the southern border to keep migrants out. He is vowing to “stop the invasion of Muslims.” And although few took his candidacy seriously at first, he has ridden to the cusp of power. Donald Trump? Nope. Norbert Hofer.

... the 45-year-old former aeronautical engineer is pledging to put “Austria First.” Should he win, it will mark one of the most symbolic victories for the modern far right in Western Europe — and Hofer has tried to assuage fears of what might happen in the country if he does.

‘‘No one needs to be afraid of me,’’ he said. But many are — including liberal artists, Muslims and others who have been targets of the far right’s rhetoric. Yet Hofer has positioned himself as the anti-establishment candidate, a figure outside the political class that many voters think of as duplicitous and out of touch. He has also tapped into a range of fears currently being reflected on both sides of the Atlantic. Fear of migrants, free trade and globalization. Of a world that gives legal rights to same-sex couples.

Like Trump and his presidential campaign, Hofer is getting a boost from less educated, white, working-class voters — including many who feel left behind and threatened by a fast-changing, multicultural society.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/austrias-right-wing-populism-reflects-anti-migrant-anti-muslim-platform-of-donald-trump/2016/05/19/73368bbe-1c26-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_story.html

He ran on his promise of "putting Austria first" and won 35.1 percent of the vote. ... The Freedom Party have opposed the government’s original “welcoming culture” ... Hofer, the self-proclaimed Margaret Thatcher fan, campaigned to dissolve the Parliament in order to call new elections. During the campaign he also stated that he would refuse to approve certain laws, such as a planned free-trade agreement between the European Union and the United States ...

Right-wing parties and politicians across Europe celebrated Hofer's first place finish in the first round of voting on 24 April. Those parties and politicians included: Marine Le Pen of French National Front; Frauke Petry of German Alternative for Germany party; Geert Wilders of the Dutch Party for Freedom; Paul Nuttall of the British UK Independence Party; and Matteo Salvini of Italian Lega Nord.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Hofer

The Green gamble to contain Austria’s far right

... environmentalists and right-wing populists are fierce political opponents and speak to totally different segments of society. A look at the map shows that Hofer has the upper hand almost everywhere except for Vienna. Analysts say that the Freedom Party’s voters are mostly male, low-income, and based in rural areas. Many of them might have supported the Social Democrats in earlier decades. Van der Bellen, on the other hand, did better with young, affluent and well-educated professionals — a new kind of urban bourgeoisie that doesn’t vote conservative anymore. Which just goes to show how complex electoral politics have become.

http://www.politico.eu/article/green-gamble-contain-far-right-austria-freedom-party-norbert-hofer-alexander-van-der-bellen/