Far right wins Austria election
(VOVWORLD) - Austrian voters handed a first-ever general election victory to the far-right Freedom Party on Sunday, preliminary results showed.
Head of Freedom Party (FPOe) Herbert Kickl gestures, as vote projections show that FPOe won the general election, in Vienna, Austria, September 29, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS) |
The FPO won 28.8% of the vote, ahead of the OVP on 26.3%, and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPO) on 21.1%, according to a projection based on nearly all the vote by pollster Foresight.
However, if the FPO cannot persuade another party to ally with it, it could end the FPO's hopes of forming a government and open the door to a coalition of more moderate parties.
Seat projections suggested the OVP and SPO, which ruled Austria for decades together, could just muster a majority without a third party, which had long looked unlikely.