- Title: Kurz's conservatives win Austrian election, still need coalition
- Date: 29th September 2019
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF PEOPLE'S PARTY (OVP) SUPPORTERS CHEERING WHILE RESULTS ARE DISPLAYED ON SCREEN OVP SUPPORTERS HOLDING UP "KURZ" AND "CHANCELLOR KURZ" BANNERS MORE OF SUPPORTERS YOUNG MAN WEARING HAT AND "TEAM KURZ" SUNGLASSES VARIOUS OF OVP SUPPORTERS CHANTING "CHANCELLOR KURZ" VARIOUS OF CHEERING OVP SUPPORTERS SOCIAL DEMOCRAT (SPO) SUPPORTERS WATCHING FIRST RESULTS ON VIDEO SCREEN PAN ACROSS SUPPORTERS APPLAUDING AFTER FIRST RESULTS WERE ANNOUNCED MORE OF SPO SUPPORTERS APPLAUDING PAN FROM PARTY HUB STAGE TO SPO SUPPORTERS SPO SUPPORTERS CLAPPING
- Embargoed: 13th October 2019 16:54
- Keywords: first results snap election exit polls party hubs supporters
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYPLQVB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz triumphed in Sunday's parliamentary election, as widely expected, but he will need a coalition partner to form a stable government and the vote left him several options across the political spectrum.
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.
Kurz, 33, has been largely unscathed by the scandal, even gaining voters from the FPO as its support has slipped to roughly a fifth of the electorate from a little more than a quarter in the last vote in 2017.
As predicted by opinion polls for months, Kurz's People's Party (OVP) came a comfortable first, with 37.2% 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 22.0%, well ahead of the FPO on 16.0% and the resurgent Greens on 14.3%, the projection showed. It has a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.
Kurz has said he will talk to all parties. His two most likely choices 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: Branko Filipovic, Ayhan Uyanik, Ute Swart, Ulrike Heil) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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