Austria Votes in Legislative Elections
Polls show the far right leading, followed by the People's Party, which is now in government
On September 29, Austria holds legislative elections. More than six million voters are expected to cast their ballots to renew the National Assembly, the lower house of Vienna’s 183-seat parliament.
Vienna is currently ruled by a coalition that includes the People’s Party (center-right) representing Chancellor Karl Nehammer and the Greens. Opinion polls for this election predict a possible victory for the far right. According to the voting intentions reported by Italian news agency ADNKronos, Herbert Kickl’s FPOE, the Freedom Party (extreme right-wing formation) will have 27%, followed by current Chancellor Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (OEVP) with 25%, the Social Democratic Party (SPOE) will have 21%, and the Greens will have 9%.
The Austrian Freedom Party built its election campaign on immigration, promising repression and accelerated repatriation of immigrants. This formation has been leading in opinion polls and has seen the return of the People’s Party in recent weeks. According to analysts, it will be a head-to-head vote. The government will apparently have to be formed by creating a coalition, but current Chancellor Nehammer has repeatedly made it clear that there will be no alliance with Kickl.
