Presidential elections in Austria: in search of stability, the Austrians ready to renew their green president

Backed by a broad spectrum of the political class, he is credited with more than 50% of the votes in the polls and seems well on his way to winning the first round of voting against six opponents, all men.

“The biggest contender on Sunday will be the sofa,” joked the 78-year-old head of state on Friday at the end of the campaign in front of his supporters. “If liberal democracy is important to you, then go vote,” he added.

Polling stations are open at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 5:00 pm when exit polls are scheduled.

A fallen far right

Far-right party FPÖ, which nearly won against him in 2016, would like to play the game again.

But his candidate is little known: Walter Rosenkranz, 60, would collect only 15% of the votes, against the tide of the recent elections in Sweden and Italy.

Cases of corruption have caused the notorious Austrian far right to lose ground. Six years ago, it was the first in Europe to approach victory in the presidential elections.

Founded by former Nazis, the FPÖ ultimately lost with more than 46% of the vote, the culmination of a ballot with twists that had held Brussels and Austria’s Western partners in suspense.

If the party then joined the government by forming a coalition with young Sebastian Kurz’s conservatives, it should have left power in 2019 after an incredible scandal and has never regained its former glory since.

“Stability”

Faced with this turbulence and the succession of chancellors, Alexander Van der Bellen, with the traditionally embodied function of guaranteeing the protocol, ensured the continuity of the state.

He can thus present himself today as “the only one who can avoid chaos”, according to political scientist Thomas Hofer, interviewed by the AFP.

This pro-European also passes for “integrity” according to Julia Partheymüller, of the University of Vienna, who is “highly appreciated” in relation to the “multiple crises afflicting many European countries”.

He has conducted a sober campaign, without debate with his rivals, advocating “clarity” and “competence” to “go through the turbulence as calmly as possible” in reference to inflation, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.

The message seems to have been received by voters, tired of the political upheavals of recent years.

“I will vote for him because he has solved the problems that have arisen very well, calmly” during his first mandate, for example, Alexandra Höfenstock, 38, an employee of the city of Vienna, who aspires to “stability”, explains to AFP.

In the Alpine country of 9 million inhabitants, 6.4 million voters – including the Austro-American Arnold Schwarzenegger, a strong supporter of the president – are called to vote for a six-year term.

children of refugees

The atypical profile of the outgoing president, however, in no way guaranteed him such a political destiny.

Austere, even a little rigid, agnostic married twice on Catholic soil, the former head of the Greens and dean of the Vienna faculty of economics could forget his strong anchorage on the left to unite people.

Ironic, heavy smoker with an eternal three-day beard, he is now happy to be photographed in loden – a traditional alpine jacket – at the foot of the glaciers to convince of his patriotism.

Because an extremely rare ecologist at the head of a democracy, he is also the son of refugees and inherited an exotic Batavian surname: his Protestant family emigrated from the Netherlands to Russia in the 18th century.

His father, an aristocrat, and his Estonian mother joined Vienna during World War II before moving to Tyrol, fleeing the arrival of the Red Army.