- Title: AUSTRIA: AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT THOMAS KLESTIL WINS A SECOND SIX-YEAR TERM
- Date: 20th April 1998
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (APRIL 19, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV/CU CAMPAIGNING HEADQUARTERS OF INCUMBENT PRESIDENT THOMAS, SUPPORTERS LOOKING AT MONITORS (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. CU PRESIDENT KLESTIL ARRIVING, SUPPORTERS CHEERING 0.29 3. MCU ASKED IF HE IS HAPPY WITH RESULT, HE SAYS YES, BUT ONE THROUGH CROWDS CAN ALWAYS DO THINGS BETTER AND THAT IS WHAT I'M GOING 0.41 4. MCU OF KLESTIL, ASKED ABOUT HIS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE ELECTION SYSTEM, TO THINK ABOUT IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND WEEKS (GERMAN) SAYS THAT IT WASN'T OKAY BECAUSE THESE TWO CANDIDATES [TWO WOMEN] ITS NOT OKAY FOR THESE TWO PEOPLE TO SIGN FOR ONE ANOTHER, AND GET IMMEDIATELY 50,000 SIGNATURES (GERMAN)/JOURNALISTS REPORTING (GERMAN) 1.08 5. SV/CU KLESTIL WITH MAYOR OF VIENNA HELMUT ZILK AND WIFE (2 SHOTS) 1.23 6. SV MAYOR OF VIENNA HELMUT ZILK AND WIFE POSING WITH BIG BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE (2 SHOTS) 1.45 7. MCU WOMAN CLEANING KLESTIL'S FACE 1.55 8. SLV/SV YOUNG SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE PARTY HEADQUARTERS/ CELEBRATING BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE 92 SHOTS) 2.20 9. SV/MCU ELECTION PRESS CENTRE, ALL FIVE CANDIDATES TOGETHER (5 SHOTS) 3.05 10. SLV/SV PRESIDENT WITH DAUGHTER URSULA AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW WALKING THROUGH STREETS TO HIS CAMPAIGNING HEADQUARTERS (2 SHOTS) 3.29 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th May 1998 13:00
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- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City:
- Country: Austria
- Reuters ID: LVACUEQZFBQ1YPCNMOZY8P5AKUU4
- Story Text: Austrian President Thomas Klestil has won a second six-year term by a resounding margin and pledged to play an active role in European Union affairs during Austria's forthcoming EU presidency.
Provisional official results on Sunday (April 19) showed the 65-year-old former diplomat received 63.49 percent of the votes, almost five times as many as his nearest rival and well above the level needed to secure victory in the first round.
"I think this impressive vote confirmed that people were apparently satisfied with the way I conducted my office," Klestil said in a television interview.
The former Austrian ambassador to both the United States and the United Nations said his international contacts were among his strengths.
"I think the problems of the EU presidency, the euro and the eastern enlargement of the EU provide a lot of opportunity for the president to use the mandate the constitution gives him to represent the republic abroad," he said.
Asked if this meant he planned a more active role in foreign policy, Klestil replied: "In agreement with the government and parliament, yes." Austria, which joined the EU in 1995, will hold its rotating presidency in the second half of 1998.
As head of state, Klestil decides which party leader should become chancellor and form a government.He can dismiss the government and dissolve parliament, although these powers have not been used since World War Two.He is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Klestil ran a low-key, aloof and almost monarchical campaign, refusing to debate with his four rival candidates and keeping appearances to a minimum.
First elected in 1992 as candidate for the conservative People's Party, he stood this time as an independent.But he had the support of both the People's Party and, controversially, of the far-right, anti-foreigner Freedom Party of Joerg Haider.
ORF television's results analysis suggested he won the backing of two-thirds of Freedom Party voters.
Klestil's two main rivals, Lutheran bishop Gertraud Knoll and Liberal Forum leader Heide Schmidt, both said they would never appoint Haider as chancellor.
Klestil, by contrast, said he would respect the will of the electorate and described the Freedom Party as a democratic body which should not be excluded from high office.
Haider's party is the main opposition group in parliament and some polls have suggested it could be in a position to form a coalition with the People's Party after parliamentary elections next year.
Social Democratic Chancellor Viktor Klima, who heads a fractious grand coalition with the People's Party, defended his party's decision not to field a presidential candidate of its own.
"The election result shows that (Klestil's) conduct of his office in his first term was in line with the expectations of the Austrian people," he said.
Runner-up Knoll took 13.53 percent of the vote, a respectable showing for a 39-year-old political novice who did not enter the race until February 27.
Schmidt got 11.08 percent, self-made construction millionaire Richard Lugner had 9.94 percent and pro-neutrality campaigner Karl Walter Nowak 1.95 percent.
Voters appeared to reward Klestil for undoing the damage to Austria's international image caused by revelations about the wartime activities of his predecessor Kurt Waldheim in the army of the Third Reich.
Waldheim was ostracised by Western leaders and refused admission to the United States.
Freedom Party deputy leader Susanne Riess-Passer welcomed the defeat of Knoll and Schmidt, whom she said wanted to exclude her party from politics.
"It is also a clear signal for democracy and fairness in this country because the winner was the candidate who showed he takes democracy seriously and respects the will of the voters," she said.
It was a resounding victory for Thomas Kelstil.Austria's President had secured his second term in office by winning more than 60 per cent of the votes, almost five times as many as his nearest rival.
The former diplomat said he was happy with the result, but added modestly: "one can always do better and that is what I'm going to think about in the next few days and weeks".
Austria takes over presidency of the European Union in the second half of 1998.The introduction of the Euro and the Eastern enlargement of the EU will require all his skills and international contacts as a former Austrian ambassador to both the United States and the United Nations.
Supporters celebrated their new president's success in exhuberant style.Yet Mr Klestil ran a low-key, aloof almost monarchical campaign, standing as an independent, refusing to debate with his four rival candidates and keeping appearances to a minimum.
Even after his win, the champagne was just for the cameras.
After the international ostracism of his predecessor Kurt Waldheim for his wartime activities with the Third Reich, voters appeared to have rewarded Klestil for his sober, dignified conduct.
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