- Title: Kurz hopeful as he casts his vote in Austrian snap elections
- Date: 29th September 2019
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ AND HIS PARTNER SUSANNE THIER ARRIVING AT POLLING STATION MEDIA KURZ WALKING OUT OF POLLING STATION AND TOWARDS REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ, SAYING: "We are very hopeful, we have the clear intention to come out first in this election. We want to have a plus with our result and our most important objective is that there won't be a majority against us. For this we have campaigned during the last weeks and months. I am thankful to all our supporters and now of course I am curious - as probably all the other candidates as well - about the outcome of the election and I assume I am going to see some of you again after 5 o'clock in the evening." KURZ TALKING TO MEDIA CAMERAS VARIOUS OF KURZ AND THIER WALKING AWAY KURZ TAKING SELFIE WITH WOMAN / WALKING AWAY
- Embargoed: 13th October 2019 11:11
- Keywords: Sebastian Kurz People's Party snap election polling station voting
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYPLQ2V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Conservative leader and former chancellor Sebastian Kurz cast his ballot in the Austrian snap parliamentary election on Sunday (September 29) that he is set to win, but where he will still need a coalition partner to secure a majority - as yet it remains unclear whom he will pick.
The election follows 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 emerged largely unscathed from the scandal, even gaining voters from the FPO as its support has slipped to roughly a fifth of the electorate from just over a quarter in the last vote in 2017. On the left, there has been some shift in support from the Social Democrats to the resurgent Greens.
But the overall picture since the scandal's immediate aftermath has been remarkably stable. Opinion polls have generally shown Kurz's People's Party (OVP) far ahead on roughly a third of the vote, the Social Democrats slightly ahead of the FPO and the Greens a distant fourth.
Kurz has said he will talk to all parties after the election if he wins. His two most likely options are either to ally with the FPO again or with the Greens and liberal Neos. A centrist coalition with the Social Democrats is possible but unlikely under their current leadership.
(Production: Ayhan Uyanik, Christine Soukenka, Ulrike Heil) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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