Austria: Polls open amid fears of far-right surge

BERLIN

Austrian voters began to cast ballots early Sunday in parliamentary elections that expected to lead to a coalition government between the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO).

6.4 million people are eligible to vote in the ballot, which opens at 08.00 a.m. local time (0600GMT) and the first results will be available at 05.00 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

The conservative Austrian People's Party was leading in opinion polls ahead of the vote with 33 percent, while the anti-Islam Freedom Party and the Social Democratic Party (SPO) were fighting for second place.

The most recent poll by the daily newspaper Kurier put support for the current Chancellor Christian Kern’s Social Democratic Party at 27 percent compared with 25 percent for the far-right Freedom Party.

Sebastian Kurz, the 31-year-old leader of the conservative Austrian People's Party, was widely seen as to win the elections and become the country’s youngest ever chancellor.

He has not ruled out a coalition government with the far-right Freedom Party, which adopted an anti-immigrant and especially anti-Muslim rhetoric during the election campaign.

Kurz and his Austrian People's Party also adopted a harsher tone on issues related to migration and Islam, and he was criticized for drifting into right-wing populism in the hope of attracting far-right voters.

Closely watched elections

Sunday’s election was being closely watched across Europe, as the far-right Freedom Party’s surge in recent months sparked worries in various EU capitals.

The Freedom Party entered into a coalition government for the first time in 1999, which at that time led to political tensions between the EU and Austria.

In the previous parliamentary elections in 2013, the Freedom Party managed to become the third largest party winning 20.5 percent of the votes, but could not enter the government.

At that time, the Social Democrats, or SPO, won the elections with 26.8 percent of the and formed a coalition government with the conservative OVP, which gained 24 percent.

Sunday’s snap polls came after a long political turmoil between the ruling SPO and its coalition partner OVP over reform policies.

The election campaign was widely dominated by issues of refugee crisis, migration and Islam, and it saw mainstream parties flirting with far-right themes in an attempt to win votes.

The growing support for the far-right party has led to worries among Austria’s Muslim migrants and the Turkish community.

Anti-Islam stance

The right-wing parties proposed several controversial measures, including strict controls on mosques and Muslim associations, and immediately closing them in the case of a suspicious activity.

Austria is home to around 700,000 Muslims, including 300,000 of Turkish origin. Many of them are second or third-generation Austrian citizens from Turkish families who migrated to the country in the 1960s.

The New Movement for the Future (NBZ), a new party recently formed by migrants, is running for the first time in parliamentary elections.

On Sunday, 2,055 candidates are contesting to obtain a seat in Austrian parliament, and among 20 candidates are of Turkish origin.