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Van der Bellen remains Austria’s Federal President
Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen celebrates with his supporters after the announcement of the first election results. photo
© Theresa Wey/AP/dpa
In turbulent times, Alexander Van der Bellen sees himself as an anchor of stability. After his re-election, he doesn’t want to change much about his appearance. His victory is not a triumph.
After his re-election, Austria’s Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen essentially wants to remain true to his style. “My main goal is to be reliable,” said the 78-year-old on ORF. The Federal President, who has rather low popularity ratings compared to his predecessors, received 54.6 percent of the votes, according to the preliminary results – without postal voters. Taking into account the postal voters, whose votes will be counted on Monday, the projections put the incumbent at around 56 percent.
According to pollsters, the right-wing FPÖ candidate, 60-year-old Walter Rosenkranz, came in second with around 18 percent. The other five candidates each achieve single-digit percentages. Voter turnout was around 65 percent.
The result was seen by many media as a rather manageable success for Van der Bellen. “56 percent is not a value for an incumbent to be particularly proud of, but the day after tomorrow no one will ask for that anymore,” commented the newspaper “Der Standard”.
According to pollster Christoph Haselmayer, the former leader of the Greens, Van der Bellen, was too reserved for many citizens on day-to-day political issues. Political consultant Thomas Hofer also sees a need for change in the Federal President. “He should at least give up his reticence on a case-by-case basis and speak up more often,” said Hofer. According to surveys, many Austrians do not consider their head of state to be non-partisan.
Only 16 percent of citizens are satisfied with politics
In general, the mood of the Austrian population towards politics is currently very negative. In a survey presented by the ORF, only 16 percent of citizens said they were satisfied with the policy, 81 percent are “disappointed” or even “angry”. According to the survey, 64 percent now rate the development in Austria as negative – in 2016 it was 52 percent. “This is a significant tightening again,” said political scientist Peter Filzmaier on ORF.
The Austrian Federal President has more powers than the German. The head of state, directly elected by the people, even has the power to dismiss the federal government. He can appoint chancellors and reject ministers. He is also Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
Top politicians and officials from the conservative ÖVP, the social democratic SPÖ and the Greens were pleased and relieved about the election result. The Austrians have ensured stable conditions, according to ÖVP General Secretary Christian Stocker. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Van der Bellen on Twitter on the election victory. “In difficult times we stand for a united Europe,” wrote the German politician.
The ÖVP and the SPÖ had not entered their own candidate. An election campaign against an incumbent is considered hopeless – the parties preferred to save the money for it. The media criticized the fact that there were no women in the field of applicants.