[PRESSTV] Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz triumphed in Sunday's parliamentary election, as widely expected, but he will need a coalition partner to form a stable government, and the vote left him several options across the political spectrum.The election followed the collapse in May of Kurz's coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) after a video sting scandal that forced FPO Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache to step down.
Kurz, 33, has been largely unscathed by the scandal, even gaining voters from the FPO as its support has slipped to roughly a fifth of the electorate from a little more than a quarter in the last vote in 2017.
As predicted by opinion polls for months, Kurz's People's Party (OVP) came a comfortable first, with 37.2% of the vote, according to a projection by pollster SORA for national broadcaster ORF published soon after voting ended.
The Social Democrats came second with 22.0%, well ahead of the FPO on 16.0% and the resurgent Greens on 14.3%, the projection showed. It has a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.
Related:
Sebastian Kurz: 2019-06-09 German boat captain Pia Klemp faces prison in Italy for migrant rescues
Sebastian Kurz: 2019-05-20 Austrian vice chancellor forced to resign after hidden camera sting
Sebastian Kurz: 2019-03-08 Austria tells militant fighters looking to return: You're on your own
Sebastian Kurz: 2019-06-09 German boat captain Pia Klemp faces prison in Italy for migrant rescues
Sebastian Kurz: 2019-05-20 Austrian vice chancellor forced to resign after hidden camera sting
Sebastian Kurz: 2019-03-08 Austria tells militant fighters looking to return: You're on your own
Related:
Heinz-Christian Strache: 2019-05-20 Austrian vice chancellor forced to resign after hidden camera sting
Heinz-Christian Strache: 2018-07-01 Austrian Vice Chancellor advises all Erdogan voters in Austria to go back to Turkey
Heinz-Christian Strache: 2018-06-10 Erdogan slams Austria for shutting mosques
Heinz-Christian Strache: 2019-05-20 Austrian vice chancellor forced to resign after hidden camera sting
Heinz-Christian Strache: 2018-07-01 Austrian Vice Chancellor advises all Erdogan voters in Austria to go back to Turkey
Heinz-Christian Strache: 2018-06-10 Erdogan slams Austria for shutting mosques
Related:
OVP: 2019-09-23 Disaster At Union Seminary As Giant, Angry Carnivorous Plant Does Not Accept Students' Apologies
OVP: 2019-09-05 She's super pro-cop. She's billing herself as the "anti-AOC". And she's running for Congress.
OVP: 2019-08-29 POTUS Adviser John Bolton, in Ukraine, Warns of Chinese Influence
OVP: 2019-09-23 Disaster At Union Seminary As Giant, Angry Carnivorous Plant Does Not Accept Students' Apologies
OVP: 2019-09-05 She's super pro-cop. She's billing herself as the "anti-AOC". And she's running for Congress.
OVP: 2019-08-29 POTUS Adviser John Bolton, in Ukraine, Warns of Chinese Influence