5 octobre 2016 Note °4 Eurocité, 12 Cité malesherbes, 75009 Paris
[email protected] www.eurocite.eu Progressive Politics in Austria: A Never-ending Presidential Election and other Challenges Mario Gavenda Mario Gavenda is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Vienna and recent graduate of the postgraduate programme at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna. His current research project deals with the impact of the politicisation of EU affairs on political parties and their internal dynamics, and his wider interests concern European integration, political parties and the politics of globalisation. [Picture: John Fonseca, 28 July 2007, Creative Commons License] " ! ! Amidst political turmoil across Europe, Austrian politics has silently been caught in a watershed moment, attempting but comically failing to elect a new president since April. In a dramatic run-off in May 2016, Alexander Van der Bellen (backed by the Greens) prevailed with a lead of merely 30,000 votes over the far-right FPÖ (Freedom Party of Austria) candidate Norbert Hofer (50.3% against 49.7% of votes). Austria had averted the fate of becoming the first European country with a far-right president and instead elected a former opposition leader of the moderately left-wing Greens instead. However, in July the Austrian Constitutional Court ordered the rerun of the second round, due to procedural mistakes in the counting of postal ballots in several districts. After the repeat election had been set for 2 October, a significant number of damaged envelopes of already sent-out postal ballots foiled this attempt already before election day.