2016 Austrian Presidential Election Re-Run - Austria's Far-right Candidate Norbert Hofer Concedes Defeat

Austria's Freedom Party conceded defeat on Sunday Dec 04,2016 in its bid to elect Europe's first far-right president, as projections showed its candidate Norbert Hofer lagging behind in a bitterly fought election re-run.

Greens-backed independent Alexander Van der Bellen(72)swept 53.6 per cent of the votes, while his rival of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) received 46.4 per cent, projections showed.

The official result of the marathon presidential election, which lasted nearly a year, is not expected before Monday Dec 05,2016, but the party conceded defeat within minutes of the poll projections being released, shortly after voting ended.

Note

The election is a court-ordered re-run of a May 2016 vote that  Greens-backed independent Alexander Van der Bellen won by less than one percentage point.

Hundreds of furious Austrians marched through the streets of Vienna on Saturday Dec 03,2016 to protest against far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer

2016 Austrian Presidential Election Re-Run Candidates

 

 

Norbert Hofer and Alexander Van der Bellen, two candidates with strongly different views.

Since announcing his candidacy last year, Norbert Hofer has emerged as a major figure of his right-wing populist Freedom Party. 

The 45-year old engineer rose through party ranks and launched his bid for the presidency from his post as one of three parliamentary presidents. A smooth talker with a ready smile, Hofer changes the style, tone and contents of his message at will - from moderate, when addressing undecided voters to polemical with Freedom Party supporters that play to their euroskeptic and anti-migrant sentiments.

Alexander Van der Bellen is running as an independent but is supported by the Green Party, where he held senior positions until 2008. 

The rumpled-looking former economics professor emigrated from Estonia with his parents as a child. He is strongly supportive of the European Union, advocates liberal migrant policies and often sounds the alarm against what he sees as Europe's rightward drift toward populism and nationalism.