- Title: Austria's Kurz revels in election victory
- Date: 29th September 2019
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2019) (REUTERS) PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ WALKS ON TO STAGE / KURZ HUGGING MAN AS SUPPORTERS CHEER, APPLAUD AND TAKE PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ, SAYING (AS SUPPORTERS CHANT "CHANCELLOR KURZ"): "Thank you very much, thank you very much dear friends." VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS CLAPPING, CHEERING AND TAKING PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ, SAYING (AS SUPPORTERS CHANT "CHANCELLOR KURZ"): "Dear friends, I am overwhelmed and almost speechless. Thank you very, very much. Thank you very, very, very much, Thank you very, very much dear friends for all of your support. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our voters. As a federal government, we were voted out of office in May. It was a difficult four months and today the voters voted us back in. Thank you very, very much for your support and thank you very, very much for your trust." SUPPORTERS CLAPPING, CHEERING AND TAKING PHOTOS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ SPEAKING INTO MICROPHONE SUPPORTER HOLDING POSTER SAYING "TERRIFIC CHANCELLOR 2.0" AND FEATURING A PHOTO OF PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ (SOUNDBITE) (German) PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ, SAYING: "It's a huge show of confidence. It's a big responsibility and we're humbly and respectfully accepting that show of confidence and I promise we will do our best to do justice to that show of confidence and do the best work we can for our wonderful Austria. Thank you very much for this beautiful moment." PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ ON STAGE AS SUPPORTERS CLAP AND CHEER (SOUNDBITE) (German) PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ, SAYING: "Please give a big round of applause for everyone who worked and fought for us in recent weeks and months, for the whole team, but above all also for all of our voters who put their trust in us. We will treat it very carefully and very humbly. Thank you very, very much." PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ PUTTING MICROPHONE DOWN AS AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUDS PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ WAVING AS AUDIENCE CHANTS "CHANCELLOR KURZ" PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER AND FORMER AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR SEBASTIAN KURZ LEAVING STAGE
- Embargoed: 13th October 2019 17:47
- 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: LVA001AYPNEX3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz beamed as he addressed supporters after triumphing in Sunday's parliamentary election. The vote left him with the option of forming a coalition with various parties, including the far right and the Greens.
Supporters clapped, cheered and chanted "Chancellor Kurz" as the People's Party (OVP) leader thanked them for their support and promised to use his mandate for the good of Austria.
"Dear friends, I am overwhelmed and almost speechless," Kurz told supporters.
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.
"As a federal government, we were voted out of office in May. It was a difficult four months and today the voters voted us back in," Kurz said. "Thank you very, very much for your support and thank you very, very much for your trust."
Kurz, 33, has emerged largely unscathed from the scandal, even gaining voters from the FPO as it suffered from further allegations last week over lavish and possibly fraudulent expenses Strache claimed from the party.
"It's a huge show of confidence," Kurz said. "It's a big responsibility and we're humbly and respectfully accepting that show of confidence and I promise we will do our best to do justice to that show of confidence and do the best work we can for our wonderful Austria."
As predicted by opinion polls for months, the OVP came a comfortable first, with 37.0% 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 21.8%, their worst result since World War Two but still well ahead of the FPO on 16.0% and the resurgent Greens on 14.1%, the projection showed. It had a margin of error of 1.4 percentage points. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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